The Family Reads Shadowland
by RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley
Summary: Dopey, Sleepy, Doc, Andy and Suze's mom is locked in a room together by Father Dom, with a pile of Suze's diaries. how will they react to Suze's secrets?
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: I ended up doing my own challenge since no one accepted it. You're all welcome to do it if you want to. This first chapter is dedicated to Mysty, Happy Birthday Mysty. _

There was a loud groan and Helen Ackerman opened her eyes. She was lying on the sofa in the living room, her stepsons were sprawled out on the floor and her husband was sitting on the armchair.

"What happened?" Andy yawned.

"Dunno, was working out and then next thing I know I'm here" Brad shrugged. "Maybe you gave us food poisoning"

Andy gave his second eldest son a withering glare. "Maybe we were abducted by aliens" David said excitedly licking his lips. "Oh wait, I can taste chloroform, someone must have kidnapped us"

"How do you know what chloroform tastes like?" Jake asked suspiciously. David just gave a sheepish grin and Jake shook his head. "I don't want to know"

Andy stood up and swiftly walked over to the door, attempting to open it but the door was firmly lock and no matter how much he pulled and struggled to open it, nothing happened. "SUZE!" Andy yelled. "Are you out there? This isn't funny young lady"

"Sweetheart, I know she isn't in here with us but...well Suzie isn't the type to lock us in a room" Helen said gently to her husband. "Maybe whoever did this took her as well?"

"Nah, she's out with Jesse remember?" David said shaking his head. He then noticed six books on the coffee table with a letter left on top. Curious, he reached up and took the letter, unfolding it and reading out loud. "Dear Ackerman family, please don't be alarmed, I have merely locked you in the living room for the night. These six books are Susannah's diaries and I would like you to read them. God bless you, Father Dominic"

There was a silence.

"You're kidding me right?" Brad said. David shook his head. "Cool then let's read her diary and find out what she really thinks about us"

"We can't invade her privacy!" David yelped.

"Sure we can, the priest himself said we should"

Another pause.

"Well if Father Dominic wants us too" Andy said awkwardly. "I mean...there has to be a reason...right?" he looked at Helen. "What do you think honey?"

She shook her head. "I want to read it...but...she would hate me for invading her privacy...i don't know"

"I vote we read it" Jake said. "She's been hiding something from us and it's time we knew what"

"I'll read the first entry" Andy offered picking up the first book.

**They told me there'd be palm trees.**

"Who did?" Brad asked.

Andy shot him a glare. "Don't interrupt me Bradley or we'll never finish these in time"

**I didn't believe them, but that's what they told me. They told me I'd be able to see them from the plane. **

**Oh, I know they have palm trees in Southern California. I mean, I'm not a complete moron.**

Brad snorted but reframed from commenting.

**I've watched **_**90210, **_**and everything. But I was moving to Northern California. I didn't expect to see palm trees in Northern California. Not after my mom told me not to give away all my sweaters. **

"**Oh, no," my mom had said. "You'll need them. Your coats, too. It can get cold there. Not as cold as New York, maybe, but pretty chilly"**

**Which was why I wore my black leather motorcycle jacket on the plane. I could have shipped it, I guess with the rest of my stuff, but it kind of made me feel better to wear it. **

Helen sighed. "How does wearing something like that makes you feel better?" she wondered out loud.

"It's a comfort thing, like how Brad finds comfort in his smelly underwear" David said cheekily ducking to avoid the swat Brad attempted to give him.

**So here I was, sitting on the plane in a black leather jacket, seeing these palm threes through the window as we landed. And I thought, Great. Black leather and palm trees. Already I was fitting in, just like I knew I would...**

**...**_**Not.**_

**My mom isn't particularly fond of my leather jacket, but I swear I didn't wear it to make her mad, or anything. I'm not resentful of the fact that she decided to marry a guy who lives three thousand miles away, forcing me to leave school in the middle of my sophomore year; abandon the best – and pretty much only – friend I had since kindergarten, leave the city I've been living in for all of my sixteen years. **

**Oh, no. I'm not a bit resentful. **

"Someone's a little too sarcastic there" Jake muttered raising his eyebrow.

**The thing is I really do like Andy, my new stepdad. He's good for my mom. He makes her happy. And he's very nice to me.**

"Aw, that's sweet of her" Andy commented, his chest swelling up with pride.

"Oh bother" Brad grumbled.

**It's just moving to California thing that bugs me. **

**Oh and did I mention Andy's three other kids?**

**They were all there to greet me when I got off the plane. My mom, Andy and Andy's three sons. Sleepy, Dopey and Doc, I call them. **

"Huh...?" Jake murmured confused while David beamed with happiness and pride.

"Which one is Dopey? Can't mean me can she?" Brad asked. "I mean I'm not David but I'm not dumb"

The Ackermans decided not to say anything.

**They're my new stepbrothers.**

"**Suze!" even if I hadn't heard my mom squealing my name as I walked through the gate, I wouldn't have missed them – my new family. Andy was making his two youngest boys hold up this big sign that said **_**Welcome Home, Susannah! **_**Everybody getting off my flight walked by it, going 'aw, look how cute' to their travel companions, and smiling at me in this sickening way. **

**Oh yeah. I'm fitting in. I'm fitting in just great. **

"**Ok," I said, walking up to my new family fast. "You can put the sign down now"**

**But my mom was too busy hugging me to pay any attention. "Oh Suzie" she kept saying. I hate it when anybody but my mom calls me Suzie, so I shot the boys this mean look over her shoulder, just in case they got any big ideas. They just kept grinning at me from over the stupid sign**

"No we were just pretending to not see that evil look" Brad said shuddering. "It was like that snake monster woman that turns everyone into stone"

"Medusa" David, Helen and Andy corrected him.

"Yeah that, she was terrifying" Brad nodded. "And the sign isn't stupid; I spent two days making it for her"

**, Dopey because he's too dumb to know any better,**

"Hey!" Brad injected.

**Doc because – well I guess because he might have been glad to see me.**

"I was"

**Doc's weird that way. Sleepy, the oldest, just stood there, looking...well sleepy.**

"**How was your flight, kiddo?" Andy took my bag off my shoulder and put it on his own. He seemed surprised by how heavy it was and went, "whoa, what've got in here, anyway? You know it's a felony to smuggle New York City fire hydrants across state lines"**

"Not funny Dad" Brad, Jake and David said.

**I smiled at him. Andy's this really big goof, but he's a nice big goof. He wouldn't have the slightest idea what constitutes a felony in the state of New York since he's only been there like five times. Which was, incidentally, exactly how many visits it took him to convince my mother to marry him.**

"Five wonderful visits" Helen said dreamily. "I remember them all like yesterday"

Andy took her hand. "The walks in the park, the carriage ride, the dinners, the theatre, just being able to gaze in your eyes..."

"Oh yuck" Brad groaned while his brothers pulled faces and made puking noises.

"**It's not a fire hydrant," I said. "It's a parking meter. And I have four more bags"**

"**Four?" Andy pretended he was shocked. "What do you think you're doing, moving in or something?"**

"Again not funny Dad"

**Did I mention that Andy thinks he's a comedian? He's not. He's a carpenter. **

"**Suze," Doc said, all enthusiastically. "Suze, did you notice that as you were landing, the tail of the plane kicked up a little? That was from an updraft. It's caused when a mass of moving at a considerable rate of speed encounters a counter-blowing wind velocity of equal or greater strength"**

Everyone turned to look at David. "How the hell do you know these things?" Brad asked disbelievingly. "What are you an alien?"

David just shrugged. "I read, something you seem incapable of doing"

Jake laughed while Brad blushed angrily and Andy and Helen shot their youngest son a disapproving look.

**Doc, Andy's youngest kid, is twelve, but he's going on about forty. He spent almost the entire wedding reception telling me about alien cattle mutilation and how Area 51 is just this big cover-up by the American government, which doesn't want us to know that We Are Not Alone. **

"Trust you David" Andy sighed while smiling proudly at his youngest.

"**Oh Suzie," my mom kept saying, "I'm so glad you're here. You're just going to love the house. It just didn't feel like home at first, but now that you're here...oh, and wait until you've seen your room. Andy's fixed it up so nice..."**

**Andy and my mom spent weeks before they got married looking for a house big enough for all four kids to have their own rooms. They finally settled on this huge house in the hills of Carmel, which they'd only been able to afford because they brought it in this completely wretched state,**

"And it still cost a fortune" Andy grumbled.

**And this construction company Andy does a lot of work for fixed it up at this big discount rate. My mom had been going on for days about my room, which she keeps swearing is the nicest one in the house. **

"It is, wasn't fair, I wanted that room, it would have been great for bringing girls home to ma...erm I mean do homework with" Brad said changing tracks when everyone looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Just admit it Brad, you only want to get laid" Jake said causing his brother to blush once again.

"**The view!" she kept saying. "An ocean view from the big bay window in your room! Oh, Suze, you're going to love it."**

**I was sure I was going to love it. About as much as I was going to love giving up bagels for alfalfa sprouts, and the subway for surfing, and all that sort of stuff. **

"She really needs to stop being so sarcastic" Helen said shaking her head.

**For some reason, Dopey opened his mouth and went "do you like the sign?" in that stupid voice of his. **

"Hey!"

**I can't believe he's my age. **

"Hey!"

**He's on the school wrestling team, though what can you expect? All he ever thinks about, from what I could tell when I had to sit next to him at the wedding reception – I had to sit between him and Doc, so you can imagine how the conversation flowed – is choke holds and body-building protein shakes. **

"What is it? Insult Brad day?"

"Well she has got a point, you barely spoke to her at the reception" David said.

"Yeah well I didn't know what to say, I mean what do you say to a girl who has suddenly becomes your sister?"

"Welcome to the family?" Jake suggested.

"Oh shut up"

"**Yeah, great sign" I said, yanking it out of his meaty hands and holding it so that the lettering faced the floor. "Can we go? I wanna pick up my bags before someone else does"**

"**Oh, right" my mom said. She gave me one last hug. "Oh, I'm just glad to see you! You look so great..." and then, even though you could tell she didn't want to say it, she went ahead and said it anyway, in a low voice, so no one else could hear: "though I've talked to you before about that jacket, Suze. And I thought you were throwing those jeans away"**

"She still has those horrid jeans! I might just throw them out one day when she's not looking" Helen muttered. "Honestly, they're about to fall apart!"

**I was wearing my oldest jeans, the ones with the holes in the knees. They went really well with my black silk T and my zip-up ankle boots. The jeans and boots coupled with my black leather motorcycle jacket and my Army-Navy Surplus shoulder bag, made me look like a teen runaway in a made-for-TV movie. **

"I thought she looked like a gang member" Jake confessed.

"You were actually awake during that time?" Brad asked stunned. "I thought you fell asleep before she entered the airport"

**But hey, when you're flying for six hours across the country, you want to be comfortable. **

**I said that, and my mom just rolled her eyes and dropped it. That's the good thing about my mom. She doesn't harp, like other moms do. Sleepy, Dopey and Doc have no idea how lucky they are. **

"Awww" Helen said smiling and blushing at the same time.

"She's right, we're very lucky to have you" David said, edging closer to Helen and resting his head on her shoulder.

"Oh David!" she squealed hugging him tightly.

"Suck up" Brad muttered.

"**All right" she said, instead. "Let's get your bags." Then, raising her voice, she called, "Jake, come on. We're going to get Suze's bags"**

**She had to call Sleepy by name, since he looked as if he had fallen asleep standing up. I asked my mother once if, Jake, who is a senior in high school, has narcolepsy or possibly a drug habit, **

Jake spluttered. "She thought I was doing drugs?!"

**And she was like, "no, why would you say that?" like the guy doesn't just stand there blinking all the time, never saying a word to anyone. **

**Wait, that's not true. He did say something to me, once. Once he said, "hey, are you in a gang?" he asked me that at the wedding, when he caught me standing outside with my leather jacket on over my maid of honour's dress, sneaking a cigarette. **

"What?!" Helen shouted. "Susannah Simon, I am very disappointed in you, how could you-"

"Err...honey you might want to listen to the rest of this before you start a lecture at a book" Andy said holding the book up.

**Give me a break, all right? It was my first and only cigarette ever. I was under a lot of stress at the time. I was worried my mom was going to marry this guy and move to California and forget all about me. **

"Oh Suzie, why didn't you say so?"

"Suze doesn't like showing weakness" David said knowingly.

**I swear I haven't smoked a single cigarette since. **

**And don't get me wrong about Jake. At six foot one, with the same shaggy blond hair and twinkly blue eyes as his dad, he's what my best friend Gina would call a hottie. **

Jake grinned while Brad glared at his older brother.

**But' he's not the shiniest rock in the rock garden, if you know what I mean. **

**Doc was still going on about wind velocity. He was explaining the speed with which it was necessary to travel in order to break through the earth's gravitational force. This speed is called escape velocity. I decided Doc might be useful to have around, homework-wise, even if I am three grades ahead of him. **

"We do homework together even now" David said happily. "Suze is a really good student, she always listens to me no matter what sort of lecture I give"

**While Doc talked, I looked around. This was my first trip ever to California, and let me tell you; even though we were still only in the airport – and it was San Jose International Airport – you could tell we weren't in New York anymore. I mean, first off, everything was clean. No dirt, no litter, no graffiti anywhere.**

"Which is why California is so much nicer than New York" Helen said.

**The concourse was all done up in pastels, too, and you know how light colours show the dirt. Why do you think New Yorkers wear black all the time? Not to be cool. Nuh-uh. So we don't have to haul all our clothes down to the Laundromat every single time we wear them. **

"Really and here's me thinking she was just the Queen of the Night People"

"Brad! Stop being rude about your sister" Andy snapped.

**But that didn't appear to be a problem in sunny CA. From what I could tell, pastels were in. This one woman walked by us, and she had only pink leggings and a white Spandex sports bra. **

"Oh I remember her she had a really nice rack" Brad said.

"I think I need to lecture you on how to treat women with respect after this" Andy said glaring at his son who swallowed audibly.

**And that's all. If this is an example of what's de rigueur in California, I could tell I was in for some major culture shock. **

**And you know what else was strange? Nobody was fighting. There were passengers lined up here and there, but they weren't raising their voices with the people behind the ticket counter. In New York, if you're a customer, you fight with the people behind the counter, no matter where you are – airport, Bloomingdales, hot dog stand. Wherever. **

**Not here. Everybody here was just very calm.**

"That's why I love living here, apart from the fact I have you lot" Helen added quickly.

**And I guess I could see why. I mean, it didn't look to me like there was anything to get upset about. Outside, the sun was beating down on those palm trees I'd seen from the sky. There were seagulls – not pigeons, but actual big and grey seagulls – scratching around in the parking lot. And when we went to get my bags, nobody even checked to see if the stickers on them matched my ticket stubs. No everybody was just like, "buh-bye! Have a nice day!"**

**Unreal. **

**Gina – she was my best friend back in Brooklyn; well, ok my **_**only **_**friend, really – told me before I left that I'd find there were advantages to having three stepbrothers. She should know since she's got four – bit steps, but real brothers. Anyway I didn't believe her any more than I'd believed people about the palm trees. But when Sleepy picked up two of my bags, and Dopey grabbed the other two, leaving me with exactly nothing to carry, since Andy had my shoulder bag, I finally realized what she was talking about: brothers can be useful. They can carry really heavy stuff, and not even look like it's bothering them. **

"It was" Brad muttered darkly. "I don't know what she had in those bags but it was damn heavy, I almost broke my neck carrying them"

"My arms still ache from carrying those bags" Jake agreed.

**Hey, I packed those bags. I knew what was in them. They were not light. But Sleepy and Dopey were like, no problem here. Let's get moving. **

**My bags secure, we headed out into the parking lot. As the automatic doors opened, everyone – including my mom – reached into a pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. Apparently, they all knew something I didn't know. And as I stepped outside I realized what it was.**

**It's **_**sunny **_**here. **

"Really I hadn't noticed"

**Not just sunny, either, but bright – so bright and colourful, it hurts your eyes. I had sunglasses, too, somewhere, but since it had been about forty degrees and sleeting when I left New York, I hadn't thought to put them anywhere easily accessible. When my mother had first told me we'd be moving – she and Andy decided it was easier for her, with one kid and a job as a TV news reporter, to relocate than it would be fore Andy and his three kids to do it, especially considering that Andy owns his own business – she explained to me that I'd love Northern California. "It's where they filmed all those Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase movies!" she told me. **

Everyone but Helen started laughing.

"What?" Helen asked.

More laughter.

"Tell me, what's so funny?"

"Darling, you really don't no much about movies do you?"

**I like Goldie Hawn, and I like Chevy Chase, but I never knew they made a movie together. **

"Oh"

"**It's where all those Steinbeck stories you had to read in school took place" she said. "You know, **_**The Red Pony"**_

**Well I wasn't very impressed. I mean, all I remembered from **_**The Red Pony **_**was that there weren't any girls in it, although there were a lot of hills. And as I stood in the parking lot, squinting at the hills surrounding the San Jose International Airport, I saw that there were a lot of hills, and the grass on them was dry and brown. **

**But dotting the hills were these trees, trees not like any I'd ever seen before. They were squashed on top as if a giant fist had come down from the sly and given them a thump. I found out later these were called Cyprus trees. **

**And all around the parking lot, where there was evidently a watering system, there were these fat bushes with these giant red flowers on them, mostly squatting down at the bottom of these impossibly tall, surprisingly thick palm trees. The flowers, I found out, when I looked them up later, were hibiscus.**

"She looked it up?" Brad said disbelievingly. "I thought she hated nature"

"She always gave the impression that she didn't care" Jake agreed.

"Suze doesn't like to look like she's interested in something like flowers, makes her look weak" David said knowingly.

"You little brother know a little too much about our sister" Jake and Brad said suspiciously.

"No I'm just observant" David said. "Also she burrowed my gardening book"

"You have a gardening book?"

**And the strange looking bugs that I saw hovering around them, making a **_**brr**_**-ing noise, weren't bugs at all. They were humming birds. **

"**Oh" my mom said when I pointed this out. "They're everywhere. We have feeders for them up at the house. You can hang one from your window if you want"**

"You know strangely enough, even when she hanged a feeder up no birds ever wanted to go near that window"

**Hummingbirds that come right up to your window? The only birds that ever came up to my window back in Brooklyn were pigeons. My mom never exactly encouraged me to feed them.**

**My moment of joy about the hummingbirds shattered when Dopey announced suddenly "I'll drive," and started for the driver's seat of this huge utility vehicle we were approaching. **

"_**I **_**will drive," Andy said, firmly. **

"**Aw, Dad," Dopey said. "How'm I ever going to pass the test if you never let me practise?"**

"**You can practise in the Rambler," Andy said. He opened up the back of his Land Rover, and started putting my bags into it. "That goes for you too Suze"**

**This startled me. "What goes for me too?"**

"**You can practise driving in the Rambler" he wagged a finger jokingly in my direction. "But only if there's someone with a valid licence in the passenger seat"**

**I just blinked up at him. "I can't drive" I said. **

**Dopey let out this big horse laugh. "You can't drive?" he elbowed Sleepy, who was leaning against the side of the truck, his face towards the sun. "Hey Jake, she can't drive!"**

Andy glared at his son.

"**It isn't at all uncommon, Brad" Doc said, "for native New Yorkers to lack a driver's licence. Don't you know that New York City boasts the largest mass-transit system in North America, serving a population of thirteen point two million people in a four thousand square miles radius fanning out from New York City through Long Island all the way to Connecticut? And that one point seven billion riders take advantage of their extensive fleet of subways, buses and railroads every year?"**

**Everybody looked at Doc. Then my mother said, carefully, "I never kept a car in the city"**

"I wasn't quite sure what to say" Helen admitted.

**Andy closed the doors to the back of the Land Rover. "Don't worry, Suze," he said. "We'll get you enrolled in a driver's Ed course right away. You can take it and catch up to Brad in no time"**

**I looked at Dopey. Never in a million years had I ever expected that someone would suggest that I needed to catch up to **_**Brad **_**in any capacity whatsoever. **

Jake and David sniggered while Brad looked offended and began to sulk.

**But I could see I was in for a lot of surprises. The palm trees had only been the beginning. As we drove to the house which was a good hour away from the airport – and not a quick hour either, with me wedged between Sleepy and Dopey, with Doc in the 'way back', perched on top of my luggage, still expounding on the glories of the New York City Transportation Authority – I began to realize that things were going to be different – very, very different – than I had anticipated, and certainly different from what I was used to. **

**And not just because I was living on the opposite side of the continent. Not just because everywhere I looked, I saw things I never have seen back in New York: roadside stands advertising artichokes or pomegranates, twelve for a dollar field after field of grapevines twisting and twisting around wooden arbours; groves of lemon and avocado trees; lush green vegetation I couldn't even identify. And arcing above it all, a sky so blue, so vast, that the hot-air balloon I saw floating through it looked impossibly small – like a button at the bottom of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. **

"I really didn't think she was so impressed by everything" Andy said surprised. "She was glaring throughout the whole journey"

**There was the ocean; too, bursting so suddenly into view that at first I didn't recognize reflecting the sun, flashing little Morse code SOSs at me. The light was so bright; it was hard to look at without sunglasses. But there it was, the Pacific Ocean...huge, stretching almost as wide as the sky, a living, writhing thing, pushing up against a comma-shaped strip of white beach. **

"Wow, I didn't think she was so fascinated by water" Jake said. "It explains a lot"

**Being from New York, my glimpses of ocean – at least the kind with a beach – had been few and far between. I couldn't help gasping when I saw it. And when I gasped, everybody stopped talking – except for Sleepy, who was, of course, asleep. **

"**What?" my mother asked alarmed. "What is it?"**

"**Nothing" I said. I was embarrassed. Obviously, these people were used to seeing the ocean. They were going to think I was some kind of freak that I was getting so excited about it. "Just the ocean"**

"She's right though" Brad said. "I do think she's a freak"

"Banned from TV for the rest of the week" Andy snapped. "And no whining" he cut of his son who was about to speak. "You need to stop being so rude about Suze"

"**Oh," said my mother. "Yes isn't it beautiful?"**

**Dopey went, "good curl on those waves. Might have to hit the beach before dinner"**

"**Not," his father said, "until you've finished that term paper"**

"**Aw, Dad!"**

**This prompted my mother to launch into a long and detailed account of the school to which I was being sent to the same one Sleepy, Dopey and Doc attended. The school, named after Junipero Serra, some Spanish guy who came over in the 1700s and forced the Native Americans already living here to practise Christianity instead of their own religion, was actually a huge adobe mission that attracted twenty thousand tourists a year, or something. **

**I wasn't really listening to my mother. My interest in school has always been pretty much zero. The whole reason I hadn't been able to move out here before Christmas was that there had been no space for me at the Mission School, and I'd been forced to wait until the second semester started before something opened up. I hadn't minded – I'd gotten to live with my grandmother for a few months, which hadn't been at all bad. My grandmother, besides being a really excellent criminal attorney, is an awesome cook. **

**I was sort of still distracted by the ocean, which had disappeared behind some hills. I was craning my neck hoping for another glimpse, when it hit me. I went, "wait a minute. When was this school built?"**

"**The eighteenth century," Doc replied. "the mission system, implemented by the Franciscans under the guidelines of the Catholic Church and the Spanish government, was set up not only to Christianize the Native Americans, but also to train them to become successful trades people in the new Spanish society. Originally, the mission served as a-"**

"**Eighteenth century?" I said, leaning forwards. I was wedge between Sleepy – whose head had slumped forwards until it was resting on my shoulder, enabling me to tell just by sniffing, that he used Finesse shampoo – and Dopey. Let me tell you, Gina hadn't mentioned a thing about how much room boys take up, which, when they're both nearly six feet tall, and in the two-hundred-pound vicinity, is a lot. "Eighteenth century?"**

"I still don't get why that worried her so much" Brad muttered.

**My mother must have heard the panic in my voice, since she turned in her seat and said; soothingly, "now Suze, we discussed this. I told you there's a year's waiting list at Robert Louis Stevenson, and you told me you didn't want to go to an all-girls school, so Scared Heart is out, and Andy's heard some awful stories about drug abuse and gang violence in the public schools around here-"**

"**Eighteenth century?" I could feel my heart starting to pound hard, as if I'd been running. "That's like **_**three hundred years old!" **_

"**I don't get it." we were driving through the town of Carmel-by-the-Sea now, all picturesque cottages – some with thatched roofs even – and beautiful little restaurants and art galleries. Andy had to drive carefully because the traffic was thick with people in cars with out-of-state licences, and there weren't any stoplights, something that, for some reason, the natives took pride in. "what's so bad" he wanted to know, "about the eighteenth century"**

**My mother said, without any inflection in her voice whatsoever – what I call her bad-news voice, the one she uses on TV to report plane crashes and child murders, "Suze has never been very wild about old buildings"**

"Atephobia" David said immediately. "Yeah, what's with that phobia? She panics each time we go near something ancient" Jake asked Helen.

"I don't know why, it's very frustrating"

"**Oh," Andy said. "Then I guess she isn't going to like the house"**

**I gripped the back of the hard rest. "Why?" I demanded, in a tight voice. "Why am I not going to like the house?"**

**I saw why, of course, as soon as we pulled in. The house was huge, and impossibly pretty, with Victorian-style turrets and a widow's walk – the whole works. My mom had had it painted blue and white and cream, and it was surrounded by big shady pine trees, and sprawling flowering shrubs. Three stories high, constructed entirely from wood, and not the horrible glass-and-steel or terracotta stuff the houses around it were made of, it was the loveliest, most tasteful house in the neighbour hood. **

"It is" Andy said beaming with pride.

**And I didn't want to set foot in it. **

Andy's smile faded very quickly.

**I knew when I'd agreed to move with my mom to California that I'd be in for a lot of changes. The roadside artichokes, the lemon groves, the ocean...they were nothing, really. The fact was the biggest change was going to be sharing my mom with other people. In the decade since my father had died, it had been just the two of us. And I have to admit, I sort of liked it like that. in fact, if it hadn't been for the fact that Andy made my mom so obviously happy, I would have put my foot down and said no way to the whole moving thing. **

"Oh Suzie, that's so sweet, so selfless of you" Helen said tearfully. "I'm such a selfish mother for not thinking about my child's needs first!"

"No you're not" Andy said firmly. "You need to think about your own happiness as well, besides Suze said so in this book she wanted you to be happy"

**But you couldn't even look at them together – Andy and my mom – and not be able to tell right away that they were completely gaga over each other. And what kind of daughter would I have been if I said no way to that? so I accepted Andy, and I accepted his three sons, and I accepted the fact that I was going to have to leave behind everything I had ever known and loved – my best friend, my grandmother, bagels, SoHo – in order to give my mom the happiness she deserved. **

Helen moaned with guilt and tried to not cry for her daughter who was so obviously miserable about the whole thing.

**But I hadn't really considered the fact that, for the first time in my life, I was going to have to live in a **_**house. **_

**And not just any house, either, but, as Andy proudly told me as he was taking my bags from the car, and thrusting them into his sons' arms, a nineteenth-century converted boarding house. Built in 1849, it had apparently had quite a little reputation in its day. Gunfights over card games and women had taken place in the front parlour. You could still see the bullet holes. In fact, Andy had framed one rather than filling it in. It was a bit morbid, he admitted, but interesting too. He bet we were living in the only house in the Carmel hills that had a nineteenth-century bullet hole in it. **

"That was really, really sad Dad" Jake said.

**Huh, I said. I bet that was true. **

**My mother kept glancing in my direction as we climbed the many steps to the front porch. I knew she was nervous about what I was going to think. I was kind of irked at her, really, for not warning me. I guess I could understand why she hadn't though. If she told me she had brought a house that was more than a hundred years old, I wouldn't have moved out here. I would have stayed with Grandma until it came time for me to leave college. **

"Oh Suzie, I wouldn't have minded, I would have visited you, four – no five times a year and made sure you got the best of education and-"

"Helen, stop worrying. Everything worked out of the best" Andy said firmly.

**Because my mom's right: I don't like old buildings. **

**Although I saw, as old buildings went, this one was really something. When you stood on the front porch, you could see all of Carmel beneath you, the village, the valley, the beach, the sea. It was a breathtaking view, one that people would – and had, judging from the fanciness of the houses around ours – pay millions for ; one that I shouldn't have resented, not in the least. **

**And yet, when my mom said, "come on Suze. Come see your room," I couldn't help shuddering a little. **

"Come on, seriously what's wrong about old buildings?"

**The house was beautiful inside as it was outside. All the shiny maple and cheerful blues and yellows. I recognized my mom's things, and that made me feel a little better. There was the pie-safe she and I had brought once on a weekend trip to Vermont. There were my baby pictures,**

"She was such a cute baby" Brad said, causing everyone to freeze in shock at the fact he complimented his stepsister without being forced too. "What the hell made her turn into something hideous?"

Everyone sighed in relief that the world was returned to its normal state.

**Hanging on the wall in the living room, right alongside Sleepy, Dopey, and Doc's. There were my mother's books in the built-in shelves in the den. Her plants, which she'd paid so exorbitant a price because she'd been unable to bear parting with them, were everywhere on wooden stands, hanging in front of the stained-glass windows, perched on top of the newel post at the end of the stairs. **

"Why do you like plants so much?" David asked Helen.

"They're just pretty" Helen said with a shrug.

**But there were also things I didn't recognize: a sleek white computer sitting on the desk where my mother used to write out cheques to pay the bills; a wide-screen TV incongruously tucked into a fireplace in the den, to which shift-sticks were wired for some sort of video game; **

"It's an x-box, not some video game. An x-box, come on Suze say it with me, an x-box" Brad said patronisingly at the book.

**Surf boards leaning up against the wall by the door to the garage; a huge slobbery dog, who seemed to think I was harbouring food in my pockets since he kept thrusting his big wet nose into them. **

"No Max was just saying hello" David said knowingly. "He adores Suze"

"Only because she gives him food" Brad muttered.

**These all seemed like obtrusively masculine things, foreign things in the life my mother and I had carved out for ourselves. They were going to take some getting used to. **

**My room was upstairs, just above the roof of the front porch. My mother had been going on nervously for almost the entire trip from the airport about the window seat Andy had installed in the bay window. The bay windows looked out over the same view as the porch, that sweeping vista that incorporated all of the peninsula. It was sweet of them really to give me such a nice room, the room with the best view in the whole house. **

"I bet you any minute she's going to start complaining now"

**And when I saw how much trouble they'd gone to, to make the room feel like home to me – or at least some excessively phantom girl...not **_**me. **_

"See, I told you so"

_**I **_**had never been the glass-topped dressing table, princess phone type – how Andy had put cream-coloured wallpaper, dotted with blue forget-me-nots, all along the top of the intricate whine wainscoting that lined the walls; how the same wallpaper covered the walls of my own personal adjoining bathroom; how they brought me a new bed – a four-poster with a lace canopy, the kind my mother had always wanted for me and had evidently been unable to resist – I felt bad about how I acted in the car. I really did. I thought to myself, as I walked round the room, ok, this isn't so bad. So far you're in the clear. Maybe it'll be all right, maybe no one was ever unhappy in this house, maybe all those people who got shot deserved it...**

Everyone was confused, apart from David who had a rough idea about what's going on.

"What does she mean by that?"

"I don't know..."

"Maybe she was talking about ghosts?"

"Don't be silly David, there's no such thing as ghosts"

**Until I turned towards the bay window, and saw that someone was already sitting on the window seat Andy had so lovingly made for me. **

"WHAT?!"

**Someone who was not related to me, or to Sleepy, Dopey or Doc. **

"What on earth is she going on? No one was there?"

**I turned towards Andy, to see if he'd noticed the intruder. He hadn't, even though he was right there, right in front of his face. **

"Then what is it?"

**My mother hadn't seen him, either. All she saw was my face. I guess my expression must have not been the most pleasant, since her own fell, and she said with a sad sigh,**

"**Oh Suze, not again" **

"Not again what? Mom what's going on?" Jake asked.

Helen sighed heavily. "Suze has some strange habits, she had that look on her face that she gets when she was in old buildings which means she'll go in one of her strange moods. Usually she ends up hurt or damaging something"

"So she's psycho?"

"she isn't...i don't know what it is, she's normal, acts normal, is mentally fine....but something is off. Her father was exactly the same" Helen sighed again. "I don't know what it is"

"Well, we're about to find out" Andy said grimily. "Want to read the next entry?"

"Yes please" Helen said taking the book away.


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: dedicated to Maple, Happy Birthday Maple _

"Right then" Helen said firmly as she took the book. "Let's find out what all of this nonsense is about"

**I guess I should explain. **

"Yes you should" everyone agreed.

**I'm not exactly your typical sixteen year-old girl. **

"Really I hadn't noticed" Brad said sarcastically.

**Oh, I **_**seem **_**normal enough, I guess. I don't do drugs, or drink, or smoke**

Disbelieved snorts were coming from Jake and Brad.

– **Well ok, expect for that one time when Sleepy caught me. I don't have anything pierced, except my ears and only once on each earlobe. I don't have any tattoos. I've never dyed my hair. Expect for my boots and leather jacket, I don't wear excessive black.**

"I don't believe you" Brad said to the book.

**I don't even wear dark fingernail polish. All in all, I am pretty normal, everyday, American teenage girl. **

**Except, of course, for the fact I can talk to the dead. **

There was a silent pause. Everyone looked at one another, Helen bit her lip worried about her daughter and Andy scratched his ear unsure what to say.

"It's ok Mom, Suze is a nutcase but you got us three" Brad said finally.

"BRAD!" Andy shouted.

**I probably shouldn't put it that way. I should probably say that the dead talk to me. I mean, I don't go around initiating these conversations. In fact, I try to avoid the while thing as much as possible. **

**It's just that sometimes they won't let me. **

**The ghosts I mean. **

**I don't think I'm crazy. **

"Really?" Brad said raising an eyebrow.

"Brad don't be mean" David said coldly. "I believe her"

"Great another nutcase in the family" Brad muttered.

**At least, not any crazier than your average sixteen year-old. I guess I might **_**seem**_** crazy to some people. Certainly the majority of the kids in my old neighbourhood thought I was. Nuts, I mean. I've had the school counsellors sicced on me more than once. Sometimes I even think it might be simpler just to**_** let**_** them lock me up. **

"Then why don't you?"

**But even on the ninth floor of Bellevue**

"What's that?" Brad asked.

"Well if you let Mom read, you might find out" Jake said rolling his eyes. "Quit interrupting"

– **Which is where they lock up the crazy people in New York – I probably wouldn't be safe from the ghosts. They'd find me. **

**They always do. **

**I remember my first. I remember it as clearly as any of my other memories of that time, which is to say not very well, since I was about two years old. I guess I remember it about as well as I can remember taking a mouse away from our cat and cradling it in my arms until my horrified mother took it away. **

Helen shuddered at the memory. She never liked rodents and seeing her precious little baby girl hold one of the filthy infested creatures scared the hell out of her.

**Hey, I was two, ok? I didn't know then that mice were something to be afraid of. Ghosts, either, for that matter. That's why fourteen years later, neither of them frighten me. Startle me, maybe, sometimes. Annoy me, a lot. But frightened me?**

"Everything annoys Suze" Brad grumbled.

"No that's just you" Jake teased.

**Never. **

**The ghost, like the mouse, was little, grey and helpless. To this day, I don't know who she was; I spoke to her, some baby gibberish that she didn't understand. Ghosts can't understand two-year-olds any better than anybody else. She just looked at me sadly from the top of the stairs of our apartment building. I guess I felt sorry for her, the way I had for the mouse, and wanted to help her. Only I didn't know how. So I did what any uncertain two-year-old would do. I ran for my mother. **

"Did you see the ghost?" David asked Helen curiously.

Helen shook her head. "I thought she was pointing at the new painting" she admitted.

"Was there any deaths that you know off that happened in the building?"

"Well at the time, a neighbour had recently committed suicide because her husband left" Helen said thoughtfully. "I remember reporting it to the police since I was the one that found her, she hung herself on that banister...thank god Suzie was asleep at the time"

"Maybe you should tell Suze about her" David suggested. "Give her some peace of mind"

"Maybe"

**That was when I learned my first lesson concerning ghosts: only I can see them. **

**Well, obviously, other people **_**can **_**see them. How else would we have haunted houses and ghost stories and **_**Unsolved Mysteries**_** and all of that? But there's a difference. Most people who see ghosts only see **_**one. **_**I can see **_**all **_**ghosts.**

_**All of them. **_**Anybody. Anybody who has died and for whatever reason is hanging around on earth instead of going wherever it is he or she is supposed to go, I can see. **

**And let me tell you, that is **_**a lot**_** of ghosts. **

**I found out the same day that I saw my first ghost that most people – even my own mother – can't see them at all. Neither can anyone else I have ever met. At least, no one who'll admit it. **

"Well of course who the hell would admit they're a nutcase?" Brad demanded to know.

**Which brings us to the second thing I learned about ghosts that day fourteen years ago: it's really better, in the long run, not to mention you've seen one. Or, as in my case, any. **

**I'm not saying my mother figured out that it was a ghost I was pointing to and gibbering about that afternoon when I was two. I doubt she knew it. She probably thought I was tying to tell her something about the mouse, which she had confiscated from me earlier that morning. But she looked gamely up the stairs and nodded and said, "Uhuh. Listen, Suze. What do you want for lunch today? Grilled cheese? Or tuna fish"**

"Again I thought she was pointing out the new painting" Helen sighed.

**I hadn't exactly expected a reaction similar to the one the mouse had gotten – my mother, who'd been cradling a neighbour's newborn at the time, had let out a glorious shriek at the sight of the mouse in my arms, and had screamed even harder at my proud announcement, "look Mommy. Now I've got a baby too," which I realize now she couldn't have understood, since she didn't get it about the ghost.**

"Did she actually say that?" Andy asked trying to smother his laughter while his sons were roaring with laughter.

"Of course not Andy, it sounded like nothing but gibberish"

**But I had expected at least an**_** acknowledgement**_** of the thing floating at the top of the stairs. I was given explanations for virtually everything else I encountered on a daily basis, from fire hydrants to electrical outlets. Why not the thing at the top of the stairs?**

**But as I sat munching my grilled cheese a little later, I realized that the reason my mother had offered no explanation for the grey thing was that she hadn't been able to **_**see **_**it. To her, it wasn't there. **

"Of course you're the nutcase Suze not Mom" Brad said to the book smugly.

"Brad you do realise you're talking to a book" David said a smirk tugging at his lips.

Brad froze for a moment. "Oh shut up" he snapped.

**At two years old, this didn't seem unreasonable to me. It just seemed, at the time, like another thing that separated children from adults: children had to eat all their vegetables. Adults did not. Children could ride the merry-go-round in the park. Adults could not. Children could see the grey things. Adults could not. **

"Nice hypothesis but obviously incorrect, however it's possible that young children could see ghosts due to the fact they're capable of actually believing they're there. It's later on after adults have brainwashed them into thinking certain things that the so called magic is no longer there" David said thoughtfully.

"Err...ok, whatever you say David" Andy said blinking.

**And even though I was only two years old, I understood that the little grey thing at the top of the stairs was not something to be discussed. Not with anybody. Not ever. **

**And I never did. I never told anyone about my first ghost, nor did I ever discuss with anyone the hundreds of other ghosts I encountered over the course of the next few years. What was there to discuss really? I saw them. They spoke to me. For the most part, I didn't understand what they were saying, what they wanted, and they usually went away. End of story. **

**It probably would have gone on like that indefinitely if my father hadn't suddenly up and died. **

"Oh Suzie" Helen whispered.

Everyone felt pangs of sympathy, all knowing full well what it was like to lose a parent.

**Really. Just like that. One minute he was there, cooking and making jokes in the kitchen like he'd always done, and the next day he was gone. **

"Just like Mom" David whispered and to his surprise Jake gripped his shoulder tightly for comfort.

**And people kept assuring me all through the week following his death – which I spent on the porch in front of our building, waiting for my dad to come home – he was never coming back. **

"It hurts a lot that...when it finally sinks in" Andy said hugging Helen with one arm and Brad who had gone very quiet with the other.

**I, of course, didn't believe their assurances. Why should I? My dad, not coming back? Were they nuts? Sure, he might have been dead. I got that part. But he was definitely coming back. Who was going to help me with my math homework? Who was going to wake up early with me on Saturday mornings and make Belgian waffles and watch cartoons? Who was going to teach me to drive, like he'd promised, when I turned sixteen? **

"Who was going to sing songs about brushing teeth and read bed time stories about Einstein? Who was going to comfort me when I had nightmares and walk Max with me while discussing the effects of global warming?" David muttered mournfully knowing full well how Suze felt.

**My dad might have been dead, but I was definitely going to see him again. I saw lots of dead people on a daily basis. Why shouldn't I see my dad?**

**It turned out I was right. Oh, my dad was dead. No doubt about that. He'd died of a massive coronary. My mom had his body cremated, and she put his ashes in an antique German beer tankard. You know that kind with the lid. My dad had always liked beer. She put the tankard on a shelf, high up, where the cat couldn't knock it over, and sometimes, when she didn't think I was around, I caught her talking to it. **

Helen blushed lightly at that, she really thought Suze had no idea about that.

**This made me feel really sad. I mean, I guess I couldn't blame her, really. If I didn't know any better, I'd probably have talked to that tankard too.**

**But that, you see, was what all those people on my block had been wrong about. My dad was dead, yeah. But I **_**did**_** see him again. **

**In fact, I probably saw him more now than I did when he was alive. **

"Now that is just sad" Brad said shaking his head.

**When he was alive, he had to go to work most days. Now that he's dead, he doesn't have all that much to do. So I see him a lot. Almost too much, in fact. His favourite thing to do is suddenly materialize when I least expect it. It's kind of annoying. **

"Parents" Jake, Brad and David said disgustedly.

"It's so we can catch you doing something you shouldn't" Andy informed them. "To make sure you're always on your best behaviour"

**My dad was the one who finally explained it to me. So I guess, in away, it's a good thing he did die since I might never have known, otherwise. **

**Actually that isn't true. There was a tarot-card reader **

"And you trusted a fraud?" Helen asked the book disbelievingly. She had no trust in those types of people. "She wanted to con you out of money"

**Who said something about it once. It was at a school carnival. I only went because Gina didn't want to go alone. I pretty much thought it was a crock, but I went along because that's what best friends do for one another. The woman – Madame Zara, Psychic Medium – read Gina's cards, telling her exactly what she wanted to hear: oh, you're going to be very successful, you'll be a brain surgeon, you'll marry at thirty,**

"Oh good that gives me plenty of time" Jake said smugly at Brad. "We all know it'll be thirty years till you get the courage to even ask her on a date.

"Why you" Brad snarled lunging for his brother, Jake quickly jumped aside causing Brad to go flying into the coffee tables and knocking the books off. "Ow!"

"That's enough, one more smart mouthed comment and the pair of you can be banned from the x-box as well" Andy snapped, glaring at both boys.

**And have three kids, blah, blah, blah. When she was done, I got up to go, but Gina insisted Madame Zara do a reading for me too.**

**You can guess what happened. Madame Zara read the cards once, looked confused, and shuffled them up and read them again. Then she looked at me. **

"**You" she said, "talk to the dead"**

**This excited Gina. She went, "oh my god! Oh my god! Really? Suze, did you hear that? You can talk to the dead! You're a psychic medium, too!"**

"**Not a medium" Madame Zara said. "A **_**mediator"**_

"Eh?"

**Gina looked crushed. "A what? What's **_**that?"**_

**But I knew. I'd never known what it was called, but I knew what it was. My dad hadn't put it quite that way when he'd explained things, but I got the gist of it, anyway: I am pretty much the contact person for just about anybody who croaks leaving things...well, untidy. Then if I can, I clean up the mess. **

**That's the only way I can think to explain it. I don't know how I got so lucky – I mean I am normal in every other respect. Well almost, anyway. I just have this unfortunate ability to communicate with the dead. **

**Not **_**any**_** dead, either. Only the unhappy dead.**

**So you can see that my life has really been just a bowl of cherries these past sixteen years. **

**Imagine, being haunted – literally haunted – by the dead, every single minute of every single day of your life. It is not pleasant. You go down to the deli to get a soda – oops, dead guy on the corner. Somebody shot him. And if you could just make sure the cops get the guy who did it, he can finally rest in peace.**

"Sounds incredibly annoying" Andy said. "Suze must have the patience of a saint"

Jake and Brad snorted but reframed from commenting.

**And all you wanted was a soda. **

**Or you go to the library to check out a book – oops the ghost of some librarian comes up to you and wants you to tell her nephew how mad she is about what he did with her cats after she kicked the bucket. **

**And those are just the folks who know why they're still sticking around. Half of them don't have any idea why they haven't slipped off into the afterlife like they're supposed to.**

**Which is irritating because, of course, I'm the schmuck who's supposed to help them there. **

**I'm the mediator. **

**I tell you, it's not a fate I would wish upon anybody.**

"I wouldn't mind, I could do a whole load of different experiments" David muttered thoughtfully to himself.

**There isn't a whole lot of pay-off in the mediation field. It isn't like anyone's ever offered me a salary or anything. Not even **_**hourly **_**compensation. Just the occasional warm fuzzies you get when you go a good turn for somebody. Like telling some girl who didn't get to say goodbye to her grandfather before he passed away that he really loves her, and he forgives her for that time she trashed his El Dorado. That kind of thing can warm the heart, it really can.**

"Awwwwwwww"

**But for the most part, it's cold prickles all the way. Besides the hassle – constantly being pestered by folks nobody but you can see – there's the fact that a lot of ghosts are really rude. I mean it. they are royal pains to deal with, they probably know that based on their behaviour in their most recent life, they aren't in for much of a treat in the one they've got coming up. So they just stay here and bug people, slamming doors, knocking over things, making cold spots, groaning. You know what I mean. Your basic poltergeists. **

"You know this is starting to sound like..." Brad looked at Jake.

"You don't think..." Jake said following Brad's train of thought.

"Oh I'm going to kill her" Jake and Brad said together.

Andy raised an eyebrow. "Care to share?"

"NO!" the boys said quickly not wanting to remind their father about the party incident.

**Sometimes, though, they can get rough. I mean, they try to hurt people. On **_**purpose**_**. That's when I usually get mad. That's when I usually feel compelled to kick a little ghost butt. **

**Which was what my mom meant when she said, "oh Suze. Not again" when I kick ghost butt, things have a tendency to get a little...messy. **

"Messy is one way of putting it. The room gets ruined and she ends up in hospital and I keep asking myself, why, why does she do this to herself?" Helen cried. "And now I find out she's either seeing dead people or really has psychological problems"

**Not that I had any intention of messing up my new room. Which is why I turned my back on the ghost sitting on the window seat and said, "Never mind, Mom. Everything's fine. The room is great. Thanks so much"**

**I could tell she didn't believe me. It's hard to fake out my mom.**

"I can always tell when she's lying" Helen said nodding as she wiped some stray tears away.

"Not well enough apparently" Jake muttered.

**I know she suspects there's something up with me. She just can't figure out what it is. Which is probably a good thing because it would shake up the world as she knows it in too major a way. I mean she's a television news reporter. She only believes what she can see. And she can't see ghosts. **

**I can't tell you how much I wish I could be like her. **

"Oh Suzie!"

"**Well" she said. "Well, I'm glad you like it. I was sort of worried. I mean, I know how you get about...well, old places"**

**Old places are the worst for me because the older a building is, the more chance there is that someone had died in it, and he or she is still hanging around there looking for justice or waiting to deliver some final message to someone. **

**Let me tell you, this led to some pretty interesting results back when my mom and I used to go apartment hunting in the city. We would walk into these seemingly perfect apartments, and I'd be like, "Nuh-uh. No way" for no reason that I could actually explain. It's really a wonder my mom never just packed me off to boarding school. **

"Of course I wouldn't! You're my baby, I could never send you away or leave you behind!"

"**Really, Mom" I said. "It's great. I love it"**

**Andy, hearing this, hustled around the room all excitedly, showing me the clap-on, clap-off lights **

"Oh boy, she's in for a long hour" Brad muttered.

**(Oh boy) and various other gadgets he's installed. I followed him around, expressing my delight, being careful not to look in the ghost's direction. It really was sweet, how much Andy wanted me to be happy. And I was determined, because he wanted it to so much, to **_**be **_**happy as it's possible for someone like me to be. **

**After a while, Andy ran out of stuff to show me, and went away to start the barbecue, since in honour of my arrival, we were having surf and turf **

"Mmm...surf and turf..."

"Brad you're drooling"

"Shut up, I'm not!"

**For dinner. Sleepy and Dopey took off to 'hit some waves' before we ate, and Doc, muttering mysteriously about an 'experiment' he'd been working on, **

"What sort of experiment?" Jake asked suspiciously.

"I was investigating the paranormal levels of our house. We used to be haunted you know"

Everyone glared at David, un-amused at what they thought was his attempt of a joke to lighten the situation.

**Drifted off to another part of the house, leaving me alone with my mother...sort of. **

"**Is it **_**really **_**all right, Suze?" my mom wanted to know. "I know it's a big change. I know it's asking a lot of you-"**

**I took off my leather jacket. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but it was pretty hot out for January. Like seventy. I'd nearly roasted in the car.**

"She should have said! I would have turned the air conditioning on or opened the windows" Andy fretted.

"**It's fine Mom" I said. "Really"**

"**I mean, asking you to leave Grandma, and Gina, and New York. It's selfish of me, I know. I know things haven't been...well easy for you. Especially since Daddy died"**

**My mother likes to think that the reason I'm not like the traditional teenage girl she was when she was my age – she was a cheerleader, and homecoming queen, and had lots of boyfriends and stuff – is that I lost my father at such an early age. She blames his death for everything, from the fact that I have no friends – with the exception of Gina – to the fact that I sometimes engage in extremely weird behaviour.**

"Well apparently it is his fault!" Helen sniffed. "Since his ghost has been instructing you"

**And I supposed some of the stuff I've done in the past would seem pretty weird to someone who didn't know why I was doing it or couldn't see who I was doing it for. I have certainly been caught any number of times in places I wasn't supposed to be. I've been brought home by the police a few times, accused of trespassing or vandalism or breaking and entering. **

"And she wonders why I think she's in a gang" Jake muttered.

**And while I've never actually been convicted of anything, I've spent any number of hours in my mother's therapist office, being assured that this tendency I have to talk to myself is perfectly normal, but that my propensity to talk to people **_**who aren't there**_** probably isn't. **

**Ditto my dislike of any building not constructed in the past five years.**

**Ditto the amount of time I spend in graveyards, churches, temples, mosques, other people's (locked) apartments or houses, and school grounds after hours. **

**I supposed Andy's boys must have overheard something about this, and that's where the whole gang thing came from. But like I said, I've never actually served time for anything I've done. **

"Yep, the many conversations and then Dad actually gave us a lecture of keeping an eye on Suze" Brad said.

"Andy!" Helen shrieked. "You didn't!"

"I wanted them to help her stay out of trouble Helen, nothing else" Andy said calmly.

"Still it's disrespecting her privacy"

"We're reading her diary, I think we've gone past simply disrespecting her privacy"

Helen blushed and refused to speak to anyone else as she glared down at the book and continued to read.

**And that two-week suspension in eighth grade isn't even reflected on my permanent school record. **

**So maybe it wasn't so unusual for my mother to be sitting there on my bed, talking about 'fresh starts' and all of that. It was kind of weird that she was doing it while this ghost was sitting a few feet away, watching us. But whatever. She seemed to have a need to talk about how things were going to be much better for me out on the West Coast. **

**And if that's what she wanted, I was going to do my best to make sure she got it. I had already resolved not to do anything out here that was going to end up getting me arrested so that was a start anyway.**

"**Well" my mom said, running out of steam after her you-won't-make-friends-unless-you-project-a-friendly-demeanour speech. "I guess if you don't want help unpacking, I'll go see how Andy is doing with dinner. **

**Andy in addition to being able to build just about anything, was also an excellent cook, something my mother most definitely was not. **

**I said, "Yeah, Mom, you go do that. I'll just get settled in here, and I'll be down in a minute"**

**My mom nodded and got up – but she wasn't about to let me escape that easily. Just as she was about to go out the door, she turned around and said, her blue eyes all filled with tears. "I just want you to be happy, Suzie. That's all I ever wanted. Do you think you can be happy here?"**

**I gave her a hug. I'm as tall as she is, in my ankle boots. "Sure, Mom" I said. "Sure I'll be happy here. I feel at home already"**

"Liar" Brad muttered.

"**Really?" my mom was sniffling. "You swear?"**

"**I do" and I wasn't lying, either. I mean, there'd been ghosts in my bedroom back in Brooklyn all the time, too. **

**She went away, and I shut the door quietly behind her. I waited until I couldn't hear her heels on the stairs any more, and then I turned around. **

"**All right" I said, to the presence on the window seat. "Who the hell are you?"**

"And that is what I want to know" Jake said. "What jerk, who is either part of Suze's hallucinations or a ghost, can think he can get away with perving at my little sister?"

"Well we find out when you read the next entry" Helen said handing the book to Jake. "Please hurry, I want to know as well"


	3. Chapter 3

"Right then, let's find out exactly _who _this guy is" Jake said gritting his teeth at the idea of some guy in his little sister's room.

"Or whether or not she's mental" Brad added with a snigger.

**To say that the guy looked** _**surprised **_**to be addressed in this manner would have been a massive understatement. He didn't just look surprised. He actually looked over his shoulder, to see if it was really him I was talking to. **

"Well I suppose spending a long time dead with people walking through you, you wouldn't expect someone to start talking to you" David said smiling.

**But of course, the only thing behind him was the window, and through it, the incredible view of Carmel Bay. So then he turned back to look at me, and must have seen that my gaze was fastened directly on his face, since he breathed, **_**"Nombre de Dios" **_**in a manner that would have had Gina, who has a thing for Latino guys, swooning. **

"Looks like you're out of luck mate" Brad said. "You're no where near being Latino, at least I have dark hair and speak some Spanish"

"Oh shut up" Jake grumbled.

"**It's no use calling on your higher power," I informed him, as I swung the pink-tasselled chair to my new dressing table around, and straddled it. **

"Suze! You're not supposed to sit on your chair like that!" Helen scolded.

"**In case you haven't noticed, he isn't paying a whole lot of attention to you. Otherwise, he wouldn't have left you here to fester for-" I took in his outfit, which looked a lot like something they'd have worn on **_**The Wild, Wild West. **_**"What is it, a hundred and fifty years? Has it really been that long since you croaked?"**

"He's not going to understand that" David said shaking his head.

**He stared at me with eyes that were as black and liquid as ink. "What is...croaked?" he asked, in a voice that sounded rusty from disuse. **

**I rolled my eyes. "Kicked the bucket" I translated. "Checked out. Popped off. Bit the dust." When I saw from his perplexed expression that he still didn't understand, I said with some exasperation. "**_**Died"**_

"Oh yes, very tactful Suze" Andy murmured sarcastically while his sons were snickering quietly to themselves at Suze's attitude.

"**Oh" he said. "Died." But instead of answering my question, he shook his head. "I don't understand," he said, in tones of wonder. "I don't understand how it is that you can see me. All these years, no one has ever-"**

"**Yeah" I said, cutting him off. I hear this kind of thing a lot, you understand. "well listen, the times, you know, they are a'changin'. So what's your glitch?"**

"Again, he's not going to understand that"

**He blinked at me with those big dark eyes. His eyelashes were longer than mine. It isn't often I run into a ghost who also happens to be a hottie, **

"Thank god, I hate to think there's guys I can't threaten to take care of our little girl" Andy said to Helen, while looking worried at the fact that this guy, this ghost was not only good looking but in his stepdaughter's room.

**but this guy...boy, he must have been something back when he was alive because here he was dead and I was already trying to catch a peek at what was going on beneath the white shirt he was wearing very much open at the throat, **

"I don't want to know!" Brad wailed clutching his ears. "Suze is supposed to be a loser who has no sex life, stop ruining my view of the world!"

"Brad...she has a sex life get over it" David said rolling his eyes at his older brother's stupidity.

"Suzie hasn't really got one has she David?" Helen asked worriedly.

"Honestly Mom...i think Jesse's far too honourable to do anything before marriage much to Suze's everlasting disappointment" David whispered. "Just don't tell Brad that"

**Exposing quite a bit of his chest, and some of his stomach, too. Do ghosts have six-packs? This was not something I had ever had occasion – or a desire – to explore before. **

**Not that I was about to let myself get distracted by that kind of thing now. I'm a professional, after all.**

The three brothers snorted.

"**Glitch?" he echoed. Even his voice was liquid, his English as flat and unaccented as I fancied my own was, slight Brooklyn blurring of my t's aside. He clearly had some Spaniard in him, as his **_**Dios **_**and colouring indicated, but he was as American as I was – or as American as someone who was born before California became a state **_**could **_**be.**

"Oh dear" Helen said. "Poor Jesse, this ghost sounds like he looks just like him. I hope Suze isn't rebounding or anything"

David was finding it very difficult to keep a straight face.

"**Yeah" I cleared my throat. He had turned a little and put a boot up on the pale blue cushion that covered the window seat, and I had seen definitive proof that yes, ghosts could indeed have six-packs. His abdominal muscles were deeply ridged, and covered with a light dusting of silky black hair. **

Brad had now shut his eyes and began to sing loudly to block Jake's reading.

"Brad shut up! Your sister is allowed to have thoughts" Andy snapped, irritated at his middle son's reaction. "Just as long she doesn't act on them, everything is fine"

**I swallowed. Hard. **

"**Glitch" I said. "Problem. Why are you still here?" he looked at me, his expression blank, but interested. I elaborated. **_**"Why haven't you gone to the other side?"**_

**He shook his head. Have I mentioned that his hair was short and dark and sort of crisp-looking, like if you touched it, it would be really, really thick? "I don't know what you mean"**

"See, he really sounds like he looks like Jesse" Helen said to the others.

**I was getting sort of warm, but I had already taken off my leather jacket, so I didn't know what to do about it. I couldn't very well take off anything else with him sitting there watching me. **

"You better not take anything else off in front of him!" Andy and Helen shouted at the book.

**This realization might have contributed to my suddenly foul mood. **

"**What do you mean, you don't know what I mean?" I snapped pushing some hair away from my eyes. "You're **_**dead. **_**You don't belong here. You're supposed to be off doing whatever it is that happens to people after they're dead. Rejoicing in heaven, or burning in hell, or being reincarnated, or ascending another plane of consciousness or whatever. You're not supposed to be just...well...just **_**hanging around"**_

"We really should enrol Suze into some anger management classes" David said. "Especially if one comment is going to set her off onto a rant"

**He looked at me thoughtfully, balancing his elbow on his uplifted knee, his arm sort of dangling. "And what if I just happen to like just **_**hanging around**_**?" he wanted to know. **

"He's teasing her!" Brad said gleefully. "She hates being teased"

**I wasn't sure, but I had a feeling he was making fun of me. **

"Duh!"

**And I don't like being made fun of. I really don't. People back in Brooklyn used to do it all the time – **

"Oh...well..." Brad looked uncomfortable. "Sorry" he mumbled.

**Well, until I learned how effectively a fist connecting their nose could shut them up.**

"And suddenly all my sympathy for her vanished" Brad said flatly remembering very well how hard she can hit.

**I wasn't ready to hit this guy – not yet. But I was close. I mean, I'd just travelled a gazillion miles for what seemed like days in order to live with a bunch of stupid boys; I still had to unpack; I had already practically made my mother cry; and then I find a ghost in my bedroom. Can you blame me for being...well, short with him?**

"**Look," I said, standing up fast, and swinging my leg around the back of the chair. "You can do all the hanging around you want, **_**amigo. **_**Slack away. I don't really care. But you can't do it here"**

"**Jesse" he said, not moving. **

Everyone was silent. David suddenly found a hole in his jumper more interesting while his family processed what they just found out.

"Jesse...is...alive isn't he?" Helen asked Andy.

"Of course he is" Andy said firmly. "We've met him, we've eaten with him, talked to him, shook his hand..."

"So...somehow he was brought back to life" Brad said. "Or...Suze is completely insane, met him somewhere else and created a supernatural story for their 'love'...i like the insane theory better"

There was more silence.

"No way that this ghost is Jesse" Brad said crossing his arms. "I'm willing to bet my surfboard on it"

"If it is Jesse..." Jake said finally. "That means he's been in Suze's bedroom before we met him...probably seen her undress. I'm going to kill that guy! I'll make sure his ghost won't be able to come back again to perve on Suze!"

"**What?"**

"Yes that's how we feel" Helen muttered.

"**You called me amigo. I thought you might like to know I have a name. It's Jesse"**

**I nodded. "Right. That figures. Well, fine. Jesse, then. You can't stay here, Jesse"**

"You tell him Suze!" Jake said before going back to reading.

"**And you?" Jesse was smiling at me now. He had a nice face. A good face. The kind of face that, back in my old high school, would have gotten him elected prom king in no time flat. The kind of face Gina would have cut out of a magazine and taped to her bedroom wall. **

**Not that he was pretty. Not at all. Dangerous was how he looked. Mighty dangerous. **

"Jesse never acted dangerous, he was always ever so polite and such a good boy" Helen said smiling. "This can't be him, must be some other Jesse. Our Jesse is probably a replacement...oh dear...poor Jesse"

"**And me, what?" I knew I was being rude. I didn't care. **

"**What is your name?"**

**I glared at him. "Look. Just tell me what you want, and get out. I'm hot, and I want to change clothes. I don't have time for-"**

**He interrupted, **

"Brave man" Brad muttered.

**As amiable as if he hadn't heard me talking at all. "That woman – your mother – called you Suzie" his black eyes were bright on me. "Short for Susan?"**

Helen wrinkled her nose. "Susan is far too boring for her"

"**Susannah" I said correcting him automatically. "As in, 'Don't You Cry For Me'"**

**He smiled. "I know the song"**

"**Yeah. It was probably in the top forty the year you were born, huh?"**

"He's not going to understand that"

**He just kept on smiling. "So this is your room now, is it Susannah?"**

"**Yeah" I said. "Yeah, this is my room now. So you're going to have to clear out"**

Helen sighed. "Didn't I teach this girl any manners?" she asked the ceiling.

"_**I'm **_**going to have to clear out?" he raised one black eyebrow. "This has been my home for a century and a half. Why do **_**I **_**have to leave it?"**

"**Because." I was getting really mad. Mostly because I was so hot, and I wanted to open a window, but the windows were behind him, and I didn't want to get that close to him. "This is **_**my **_**room. I'm not sharing it with some dead cowboy"**

"Ooh he's not going to like that" David said. "If he was staying at the boarding house he was most likely rather rich and owned some land. Calling him a cowboy would imply he had no home or family to care for. It would also imply he was poor"

"Suze always had a knack of insulting people" Brad said knowingly.

**That got to him. He slammed his foot back down on the floor – hard – and stood up. I instantly wished I hadn't said anything. He was tall, way taller than me, and in my ankle boots I'm five eight. **

"**I am **_**not **_**a cowboy" he informed me, angrily. He added something in Spanish in an undertone, but since I had taken French, I had no idea what he was saying. At the same time, my antique mirror hanging over my new dressing table started to wobble dangerously on the hook that held it to the wall. This was not due, I knew, to a California earthquake, but to the agitation of the ghost in front of me, whose psychic abilities were obviously of a kinetic bent. **

"Not possible, can't be...how many ghosts had we been near?!" Jake muttered under his breath.

**That's the thing about ghosts: they're so touchy! The slightest thing can set them off. **

"Nah, that's just people. Suze isn't a people person is she?"

"**Whoa," I said, holding up both my hands, palms outwards. "Down. Down boy"**

"**My family" Jesse raged, wagging a finger in my face. "Worked like slaves to make something of themselves in this country, but never, never as a **_**vaquero-**_**"**

"Huh...what's that?" Jake asked.

"Cowboy" Brad said automatically.

Everyone stared at him.

"What? I paid attention in Spanish!"

"**Hey" I said. And that's when I made my big mistake. I reached out, not liking the finger he was jabbing at me, and grabbed it, hard, yanking on his hand and pulling him towards me so I could be sure he heard me as I hissed. "Stop with the mirror already. And stop shoving your finger in my face. Do it again, and I'll break it"**

"Suzie!" Helen shouted, shocked at her daughter's behaviour.

"Hang on, the dude's a ghost, shouldn't she gone right through him?" Brad asked.

**I flung his hand away, and saw, with satisfaction, that the mirror had stopped shaking. But then I happened to glance at his face. **

**Ghosts don't have blood. How can they? They aren't alive. But I swear, at that moment, all the blood that had once been there had evaporated just at that moment. **

**Not being alive, and not possessing blood, it follows that ghosts aren't made of matter, either. So it didn't make sense that I had been able to grab his finger. My hand should have passed right through him. Right?**

"Right"

**Wrong. **

"Eh?"

**That's how it works for most people. But not for people like me. Not for the mediators. We can see ghosts, we can talk to ghosts, and if necessary, we can kick a ghost's butt. **

"Great, so now we have a guy that we can't see, hear, feel but Suze can, in Suze's bedroom without us knowing" Jake said summing up the situation.

"I really, really don't like this" Andy said gritting his teeth.

**But this isn't something I like to go advertising. I try to avoid touching them – touching anybody, really – as much as possible. If all attempts at mediation have failed, and I have to use a little physical coercion on a recalcitrant spirit, I generally prefer him or her not to know beforehand that I am capable of doing so. Sneak attacks are always advisable when dealing with members of the underworld, who are notoriously dirty fighters. **

"Nah, they're just probably good and she won't admit she got her butt kicked fair and square" Brad said.

**Jesse, looking down at his finger as if I'd burned a hole through it, seemed perfectly incapable of saying anything. It was probably the first time he'd been touched by anyone in a century and a half. That kind of thing can blow a guy's mind. Especially a dead guy.**

"Let's hope that's all you touch"

"Oh Andy, Suzie isn't likely to hop into bed with him. She has values and is a good girl deep down" Helen said. "And this boy sounds far too honourable to do anything, like our Jesse, the alive one"

**I took advantage of his astonishment, and said, in my sternest, most no-nonsense tone. **

"Her teacher voice" Brad translated.

"**Now, look, Jesse. This is my room, understand? You can't stay here. You've either got to let me help you get to where you're supposed to go, or you're going to have to find some other house to haunt. I'm sorry but that's the way it is"**

"So this is the end of dead Jesse? I hope so because if that guy comes back to perve on her while she's changing..."

**Jesse looked up from his finger, his expression still one of utter disbelief. "Who **_**are **_**you?" he asked, softly. "What kind of...girl are you?"**

**He hesitated so long before he said the word **_**girl **_**that it was clear he wasn't at all certain it was appropriate in my case. This kind of bugged me. **

"Rightly so" Helen murmured in agreement, feeling a twinge of irritation of the implication that her daughter wasn't female.

**I mean, I may not have been the most popular girl in school, but no one ever denied I was an actual girl. Truck drivers honk at me at crosswalks and then, and not because they want me to get out of the way. Construction workers sometimes holler rude things at me, especially when I wear my leather miniskirt. **

"I don't like the sound of that" Andy frowned.

"Oh leave it Andy, it was in New York" Helen sighed.

**I am not unattractive or mannish in any way. Sure, I'd just threatened to break his finger off, nit that didn't mean I wasn't a **_**girl, **_**for God's sake!**

"**I'll tell you what kind of girl I'm not," I said, crankily. "I am **_**not **_**the kind of girl who's looking to share her room with a member of the opposite sex. Understand me? So either you move out, or I force you out. It's entirely up to you. I'll give you some time to think about it. But when I get back here, Jesse, I want you gone"**

"YES GO YOU PERVERT!"

**I turned round and left. **

**I had to. I don't usually lose arguments with ghosts, but I had a feeling I was losing that one, and badly. I shouldn't have been so short with him, and I shouldn't have been rude. I don't know what came over me, I really don't. I just...**

**I guess I just wasn't expecting to find the ghost of such a cute guy in my bedroom, is all. **

**God, I thought, as I stormed down the hall. What am I going to do if he doesn't leave? I won't be able to change clothes in my own room!**

"You do what you always do" Brad said patronisingly to the book. "Punch his face in, get rid off him and trash a room"

"She's going to punch _your _face in if she hears your tone" David pointed out.

**Give him a little time, a voice inside my head went. It was a voice I'd very carefully avoided telling my mom's therapist about. **

"Hearing voices is the first sign of insanity" Brad sang to the book.

"Talking to objects must be the second then" Jake shot back on Suze's behalf.

**Give him a little time. He'll come around. They always do. **

**Well, most of the time, anyway. **

"And that's it" Jake said. "Who wants to read the next entry?"

"I will" Brad said taking the book from Jake. "I love hearing all of this, it's prove that Suze is a nutcase and I'm the good one"

"Yeah but it doesn't stop you being the annoying one" Jake pointed out.

"And the lazy one" David added.

"And the dirty one" Andy said grinning.

"And the smelly one" Helen giggled.

Brad looked much put out that even his parents were teasing him and huffily turned the page for the next instalment of Suze's insane ramblings.


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's Note: for Lizhi, thank you so much for all your help with my personal statement and a Merry Christmas (yes a very early Christmas present)_

"Right then, entry number four" Brad cleared his throat and began to speak in a high pitched voice.

**Dinner at the Ackerman household was pretty much like dinner in any other large household I had ever known: everybody talked at once – expect of course for Sleepy, who only spoke**

"Ok that's it, Brad quit the voice now or I'll add a grounding sentence" Andy snapped, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Both Jake and David had pained facial expressions and Helen just sighed.

"Fine" Brad grumbled.

**When asked a direct question – and nobody wanted to clear the table afterwards. I made a mental not to call Gina and tell her she'd been wrong. There really was no advantage that I could see, in having brothers: they chewed with their mouths open, and ate every single Poppin' Fresh bread roll before I'd even had one.**

"I am really disappointed in you three, you're a disgrace to table manners" Andy said shaking his head.

**After dinner, I decided it would be wise to avoid my room, and give Jesse plenty of time to make up his mind about whether he was leaving with or without his teeth. I'm not a big fan of violence, but it's an unfortunate by-product of my profession. Sometimes, the only way you can make someone listen is with your fist.**

"Suzie that is not a way to make people listen!" Helen said to the book.

**This is not a technique espoused, I know, by the diagnostic manuals on most therapists' shelves. **

**Then again, nobody ever said I was a therapist. **

"You just did" Brad muttered rolling his eyes.

**The problem with my plan, of course, was that it was Saturday night. I'd forgotten what day it was all in the stress of the move. Back home on a Saturday night, I'd probably have gone out with Gina, taken the subway to the Village and gone to see a movie or just hung around Joe's Pizza watching people walk by. Hey, I may be a big city girl, but that doesn't mean my life was glamorous by any means. I have never even been asked out by a boy, **

"Loser" Brad coughed.

**unless you count that time in fifth grade when Daniel Bogue asked me to skate with him during a couple's only song at Rockefeller Centre's ice rink. **

**And then I'd embarrassed myself by falling flat on my face. **

Brad and Jake roared with laughter, David tried hard to keep a giggle in and even Andy and Helen had a hard time to keep a straight face.

**My mom, however, was all anxious for me to throw myself into the social scene of Carmel. As son as the dishwasher was loaded, she was like, "Brad, what are you doing tonight? Are they any parties or anything? Maybe you could take Suze and introduce her to some people"**

**Dopey, who was mixing himself a protein shake – apparently the two dozen jumbo shrimps and massive shell steak he'd consumed at dinner hadn't been filling enough – went, "yeah, maybe I could, if Jake wasn't working tonight"**

**Sleepy, roused by the mention of his name squinted down at his watch and said, "damn," picked up his jean jacket, and left the house. **

**Doc looked at the clock and made a **_**tsk-tisking **_**noise. "Late again. He's going to get himself fired if he doesn't watch it"**

"Nah, my boss loves me. I always get forgiven since I work so hard and I get free pizza as well" Jake said grinning.

**Sleepy had a job? This was news to me, so I asked, "Where's he work?"**

"**Peninsula Pizza" Doc was performing some sort of bizarre experiment which involved the dog and my mother's treadmill. The dog, who was huge – a cross between a St Bernard and a bear, I think – was sitting patiently on the floor while Doc attached electrodes to small patches of the dog's skin he shaved free of fire. The strangest thing was nobody seemed to mind this, least of all the dog. **

"We've just gotten used to the eccentricities of David" Brad said shrugging. "What were you doing to Max anyway?"

"I was using his brainwaves to track down the ghost" David said. "Animals are highly sensitive to the paranormal, for a long time Max would refuse to go anywhere near Suze's room but now I'm certain whatever is haunting her room has left for good"

"How?" Jake asked curiously.

"Because last time I checked Max was sleeping on her bed"

"**Slee- I mean, Jake works in a pizza place?"**

**Andy scouring a baking dish in the sink, said, "He delivers for them. Brings home a bundle of tips"**

"**He's saving up" Dopey informed me, a thick white milkshake moustache on his upper lip.**

"Oh very smart Brad" Jake said drily.

"Shut up"

"**For a Camaro"**

"**Huh" I said.**

"**You guys want me to drop you anywhere?" Andy offered generously. "I'd be happy to. Whaddaya say, Brad? Want to show Suze the action down at the mall?"**

"**Nah" Dopey said, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.**

"And what's wrong with simply going to the bathroom and use a flannel?" Andy asked his middle son who merely shrugged.

"**Everybody's still up in Tahoe for the break. Next weekend maybe"**

**I nearly collapsed with relief. The word **_**mall **_**always filled me with a sort of horror, a horror that had nothing to do with the undead. They don't have malls in New York City, but Gina used to love to take the PATH train to this one in New Jersey. Usually after an hour, I develop sensory overload, and have to sit down in This Can't Be Yogurt and sip an herbal tea until I calmed down. **

"Suze is really fussy isn't she?" Jake said raising an eyebrow.

"She dislikes a lot of things however she puts up with a lot as well" Helen said smiling sadly. "She does a lot of compromising to keep me happy"

**And I have to admit, I wasn't that thrilled with the idea of anybody 'dropping' me somewhere. My God, what was **_**wrong **_**with this place? I could see how, given the San Andreas Fault, subways might not be such a great idea, but why hadn't anybody established a decent bus system?**

"She's got a point, we are severely lacking public transportation and are probably emitting more greenhouse gases than New York" David said.

"**I know" Dopey said, slamming his empty glass down. "I'll play you a few games of Coolboarder, Suze"**

"She won't know what that is, she didn't even know we had an x-box"

**I blinked at him. "You'll what?"**

"See"

"**I'll play you in Coolboarder" when my expression remained blank, Dopey said. "You never heard of Coolboarder? Come on"**

**He led me towards the wide-screen TV in the den. Coolboarder, it turned out, was a video game. Each player got assigned a snowboarder, and then you raced each other down various slopes using a joystick to control how fast your boarder went and what kind of fancy moves she might make. **

**I beat Dopey at it eight times**

Everyone laughed.

"Oh Brad you never cease to amaze me" Jake said chuckling. "I thought it was bad that our baby brother can beat you and he's a geek. But our sister who never heard of the game before?"

"Shut up!" Brad snapped, his neck turning a deep red to match the angry pink flush on his cheeks.

**Before he finally said, "Let's watch a movie instead"**

"Sulking now?"

**Sensing that I had probably erred in some way – I guess I should have let the boy win at least once – I tried to make amends by volunteering to supply the popcorn, and went into the kitchen. **

**It was only then that a wave of tiredness hit me. There is a three-hour time difference between New York and California, so even though it was only nine o-clock, I was as tired as if it was midnight. Andy and my mom had retired to the massive master bedroom, but they had left the door to it wide open, I guess so that we wouldn't get any wrong ideas about what they were doing in there.**

"Very true" Andy said. "I don't like putting dirty thoughts in my children's minds"

**Andy was reading a spy novel and my mother was watching a made-for-TV movie.**

**This, I was sure, was strictly for the benefit of us kids; most other Saturday nights I bet they'd have closed that door, or least have gone out with Andy's friends or my mom's new colleagues at the TV station in Monterey where she'd been hired.**

"Actually no, it's very rare for us to go out. We enjoy snuggling" Helen said smiling dreamily.

"Oh yuck" Brad grumbled.

**They were obviously trying to establish some sort of domestic pattern to make us kids feel more secure. You had to give them snaps for doing their best. **

**I wondered, as I stood there, waiting for the popcorn to pop, what my dad thought of all of this. He hadn't been too enthused about Mom's remarrying, **

"Oh darling..." Helen sighed. Andy fidgeted uncomfortably but didn't say anything

**Even though, as I've said, Andy is a pretty great guy. He'd been even less enthused about my moving out to the West Coast.**

"**How," he wanted to know, when I told him, "am I going to pop in on you when you're living three thousand miles away?"**

"Even now he's trying to look out for her"

"**The point, Dad" I said to him, "is that you aren't supposed to be popping in on me. You're supposed to be doing whatever it is dead people do, not spying on me and Mom.**

**He'd looked sort of hurt by that. "I'm not spying" he'd said. "I'm just checking up. To make sure you're happy and all of that"**

"He shouldn't worry so much, we're both very happy"

"**Well I am," I assured him. "I'm very happy and so is Mom"**

**I'd been lying of course. **

"Oh Suzie, why didn't you tell me you're not happy?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's happy now with Jesse, Adam and Cee Cee" Andy said reassuringly. "She's really settled in during the past year"

**Not about Mom, but about me. I'd been a nervous wreck at the prospect of moving. Even now, I wasn't really sure it was going to work out. This thing with Jesse...i mean, where was my dad, anyway? Why wasn't he upstairs kicking that guy's butt? Jesse was, after all, a boy, and he was in my bedroom, and fathers are supposed to hate that kind of thing...**

"We all hate that kind of thing" Andy muttered. "I would like to kick this Jesse's butt, whether it's the alive one we know or the dead one we don't know. Whichever has been in her room recently"

"Dear, leave alive Jesse alone. I'm very sure he hasn't done anything" Helen said firmly.

**But that's the thing about ghosts. They are never around when you actually need them. Even if they happen to be your dad.**

**I guess I must have zoned out for a little while because next thing I knew, the microwave was dinging. I took the popcorn out and opened the bag. I was pouring it into a big wooden bowl when my mom came into the kitchen and switched on the overhead light. **

"**Hi honey" she said. Then she looked at me. "Are you all right, Suzie?"**

"**Sure, Mom" I said. I shovelled some popcorn into my mouth. "Dope – I mean, **_**Brad **_**and I are gonna watch a movie"**

"I'm getting tired of being called Dopey" Brad complained. "I'm not as thick as she makes me out to be"

"Try saying that to your grades" Andy said sternly.

"**Are you sure?"My mother was peering at me curiously. "Are you sure, you're all right?"**

"**Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, is all"**

**She looked relieved. "Oh, yes. Well I expected you'd have a bit of jet lag. But...well, it's just that you looked so upset when you first walked into your room upstairs. I know the canopy bed was a bit much but I couldn't resist"**

**I chewed. I was totally used to this kind of thing. "The bed's fine, Mom" I said. "The room's fine too"**

"**I'm so glad" my mom said, pushing a strand of hair from my eyes. "I'm so glad you like it, Suze"**

**My mother looked so relieved, I sort of felt sorry for her, in a way. I mean, she's a nice lady and doesn't deserve to have a mediator for a daughter. **

"Suzie I am perfectly content with the daughter I have. At times I feel like I don't deserve you because you're too good to me" Helen said to the book.

**I know I've always been a bit of a disappointment to her. **

"You've never been one! The only time I have felt disappointment was when you lied or got suspended but I have always been very proud of my little girl"

**When I turned fourteen, she got me my own phone line, thinking so many boys would be calling me, her friends would never be able to get through. You can imagine how disappointed she was when nobody except Gina ever called me on my private line, and then it was usually only to tell me about the dates **_**she'd **_**been on. Like I said, the boys in my neighbourhood were never much interested in asking **_**me **_**out. **

**My poor mom. She always wanted a nice, normal teenage daughter. Instead she got me.**

"Stop degrading yourself like that!"

"**Honey" she said. "Don't you want to change? You've been wearing those same clothes since six o'clock this morning, haven't you?"**

**She asked me this right as Doc was coming in to get more glue for his electrodes. Not that I was going to say anything like, **_**well, to tell you the truth, Mom. I'd like to change but I'm not real excited about doing it in front of the ghost of the dead cowboy that's living in my room. **_

"Yes that would certainly be interesting" David said, his lips twitching in amusement.

**Instead, I shrugged and said, with elaborate casualness. "Yeah, well, I'm gonna change in a bit"**

"**Are you sure you don't want help unpacking? I feel terrible. I should have-"**

"**No, I don't need any help. I'll unpack in a bit" I watched Doc forage through a drawer. "I better go" I said. "I don't want to miss the beginning of the movie"**

**Of course, in the end, I missed the beginning, middle and end of the movie. I fell asleep on the couch, and didn't wake up until Andy shook my shoulder a little after eleven. **

"**Up and at 'em kiddo" he said. "I think it's time to admit you've gone down for the count. Don't worry. Brad won't tell anybody"**

**I got up, groggily and made my way up to my room. I headed straight for the windows, which I yanked open. To my relief there was no Jesse to block the way.**

"Yes! No more worrying about perverted guys" Jake said sighing in relief. "I wouldn't have been able to kick his arse if he was dead already and only Suze could see, hear and touch him"

_**Yes. **_**I've still got it.**

**I grabbed my duffel bag and went into the bathroom where I showered and, just to be on the safe side – I didn't know for sure whether or not Jesse had gotten the message and vamoosed – changed into my pyjamas. **

"Good thinking" Andy approved.

**When I came out of the bathroom, I was a little more awake. I looked around, feeling the cool breeze seeping in, smelling the salt in the air. Unlike back in Brooklyn where our ears were under constant assault by sirens and car alarms, it was quiet in the hills, the only sound the occasional hoot of an owl. **

"I know, it's so peaceful"

**I found, rather to my surprise, that I was alone. Really alone. A ghost-free zone. Exactly what I'd always wanted. **

**I got into bed and clapped my hands, dousing the lights. Then I snuggled deep beneath my crisp new sheets. **

**Just before I fell asleep again, I thought I heard something besides the owl. It sounded like someone singing the words **_**Oh, Susannah, now don't you cry for me, 'cause I come from Alabama with this banjo on my knee. **_

"You don't think it's Jesse do you?" Helen asked. "He might have never left the room, just hid when Suze came in"

"Well as long as he didn't follow her into the bathroom when she wasn't looking..." Andy said frowning.

"I have to admit he is a very romantic man, singing under her window like that and with the song we named her after" Helen sighed. "Poor alive Jesse, he has so much to compete against"

**But that, I'm sure, was just my imagination. **

"And that's the end" Brad said holding the book up. "David's next to read, right?"


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: a Christmas present to Nickel _

David glanced down at the page and smiled. "Looks like we're now going to see school through Suze's eyes" he said before reading.

**The Junipero Serra Catholic Academy, grades K-12, had been made co-educational in the eighties, and had, much to my relief, recently dropped its strict uniform policy. **

"Trust me, we're grateful too" Brad muttered with a shudder. "Those uniforms were hideous"

"Complete torture" Jake agreed.

"I quite liked them" David admitted blushing slightly and then shrinking at his brothers' glares.

**The uniforms had been royal blue and white, not my best colours. Fortunately, the uniforms had been so unpopular **

"Yes, we parents pitied our children" Andy said smiling faintly.

**That they, like the boys-only rule, had been abandoned, and though the pupils couldn't wear jeans, they could wear just about anything else they wanted. Since all I wanted was to wear my extensive collection of designer clothing – purchased at various outlet stores in New Jersey with Gina**

Jake laughed. "I got a feeling Brad won't be insulting Suze's wardrobe for a long time"

**As my fashion coordinator – this suited me fine. **

**The Catholic thing, though, was going to be a problem. Not really a problem so much as an inconvenience. You see, my mother never really bothered to raise me in any particular religion. My father was a non-practising Jew, my mother Christian. Religion had never played an important part in either of my parents' lives, and, needless to say, it had only served to confuse me. I mean, you would think I'd have a better grasp on religion that anybody, **

"True with someone who is destined to assist lost souls to their afterlife, you would think that they would know whether or not a god exists" David mused.

**but the truth is, I haven't the slightest idea what happens to the ghosts I send off to wherever it is they're supposed to go after they die. All I know is, once I send them there, they do not come back. Not ever. The end. **

"That makes me feel so much peaceful" Brad said sarcastically. "Knowing that it's the end"

**So when my mother and I showed up at the Mission School's administrative office the Monday after my arrival in sunny California, I was more than a little taken aback to be confronted with a six-foot Jesus hanging on a crucifix behind the secretary's desk. **

"Yes it is a little excessive" Andy admitted.

**I shouldn't have been surprised, though. My mom had pointed out the school from my room on Sunday morning as she helped me unpack. "See that big red dome?" she'd said. "That's the Mission. The dome covers the chapel"**

**Doc happened to be hanging around **

"Because he has no life" Brad added.

"Brad, be nice to your little brother" Andy said warningly.

– **I'd noticed he did that a lot – and he launched into another one of his descriptions, this time of the Franciscans, who were members of a Roman Catholic religious order that followed the rule of St Francis, approved in 1209. Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan monk, was, according to Doc, a tragically misunderstood historical figure. A controversial hero in the Catholic Church, he had been considered for sainthood at one time, but, Doc explained, Native Americans questioned this move as 'a general endorsement of the exploitative colonization tactics of the Spanish. Though Junipero Serra was known to have argued on behalf of the property rights and economic entitlement of the converted Native Americans, he consistently advocated against their right to self-governance, and was a staunch supporter of corporal punishment, appealing to the Spanish government for the right to flog Indians.' **

"How the hell do you know so much of everything?" Jake asked David who merely shrugged.

**When Doc had finished this Particular lecture, I just looked at him and went 'photographic memory much?"**

**He looked embarrassed. "Well" he said. "It's good to know the history of the place where you're living"**

**I filed this away for future reference. Doc might be just the person I needed if Jesse showed up again.**

Everyone looked at David.

"So were you?" Andy asked.

"Were I what?" David asked innocently.

"Someone she needed when Jesse turned up" Andy said.

A mysterious smile on David's face grew. "Just wait and see"

"No! That would mean he comes back!" Jake moaned.

"And I have to suffer hearing about Suze's lustful thoughts" Brad shuddered.

**Now, standing in the cool office of the ancient building Junipero Serra had constructed for the betterment of the natives in the area, I wondered how many ghosts I was going to encounter. That Serra guy had to have a bunch of Native Americans mad at him – particularly considering that corporal punishment thing – and I hadn't any doubt I was going to encounter all of them. **

**And yet, when my mom and I walked through the school's wide front archway into the courtyard round which the Mission had been constructed, I didn't see a single person who looked as if he or she didn't belong there. There were a few tourists snapping pictures of the impressive fountain, a gardener working diligently at the base of a palm tree – even at my new school there were palm trees – a priest walking in silent contemplation down the airy breezeway. It was a beautiful, restful place – especially for a building that was so old, and had to have seen so much death.**

"Is she complaining?" Brad asked confused.

"I think so" Helen said.

"Why complain that you have peace from your delusions?"

**I couldn't understand it. Where were all the ghosts?**

**Maybe they were afraid to hang around the place. **_**I **_**was a little afraid, looking up at that crucifix. I mean, I've got nothing against religious art, but was it really necessary to portray the crucifixion so realistically, with so many scabs and all?**

Everyone shuddered.

"Apparently, yes" David replied.

**Apparently, I was not alone in thinking so since a boy who was slumped on a couch across from the one where my mom and I had been instructed to wait noticed the direction of my gaze and said, "he's supposed to weep tears of blood if any girl ever graduates from here a virgin"**

All four men burst out laughing and Helen glared at them. "Stop being so disrespectful" she scolded them.

**I couldn't help letting out a little bark of laughter. My mother glared at me. The secretary, a plump middle-aged woman who looked as if something that ought to have offended her deeply only rolled her eyes and said, tiredly. "Oh, Adam"**

**Adam, a good looking boy about my age, looked at me with a perfectly serious face. "It's true," he said gravely. "It happened last year. My sister" he dropped his voice conspiratorially. "She's adopted"**

The men laughed even harder and Helen rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. "I give up" she murmured.

**I laughed again, and my mother frowned at me. She had spent most of yesterday explaining to me that it had been really, really hard to convince the school to take me, especially since she couldn't produce any proof that I'd ever been baptized. In the end, they'd only let me in because of Andy, since all three of his boys went there. I imagine a sizable donation had also played a part in my admittance,**

"Suze is too smart for her own good" Andy said shaking his head. "Yes a very sizable donation had to be made and then I had to give a free evaluation of the building. Not that Father Dominic listened to my advice"

**But my mother wouldn't tell me that. All she said was that I had better behave myself, and not hurl anything out of any windows – even though I reminded her that that particular incident hadn't been my fault. I'd been fighting with a particularly violent young ghost who'd refused to quit haunting the girls' locker room at my old school. Throwing him through that window had certainly gotten his attention, and convinced him to tread the path of righteousness ever after.**

"How many perverted ghosts has Suze ran into?" Jake asked bewildered.

**Of course, I told my mother that I'd been practising my tennis swing indoors, and the racket had slipped from my hands **

"I didn't believe her" Helen said. "Though the truth sounds even more unbelievable"

– **An especially unbelievable story, since a racket was never found. **

**It was as I was reliving this painful memory that a heavy wooden door opened, and a priest came out and said, "Mrs Ackerman, what a pleasure to see you again. And this must be Susannah Simon. Come in, won't you?" he ushered us into his office, the paused, and said to the boy on the couch. "Oh, no, Mr McTavish. Not on the first day of a brand-new semester"**

**Adam shrugged. "What can I say? The broad hates me"**

"She hates anyone that isn't a fellow sister or the monsignor or Father Dominic" Brad said disgustedly. "She hates all students, why she doesn't just leave I'll never know"

"**Kindly do not refer to Sister Ernestine as a broad, Mr McTavish. I will see to you in a moment, after I have spoken with these ladies"**

**We went in, and the principal, Father Dominic – that was his name – sat and chatted with us for a while, asking me how I liked California so far.**

"Father Dominic is a very pleasant and kind man" Helen said fondly. "He's become a good father figure to Suzie, not that you're not one as well Andy, and I notice that she depends on his opinion a lot"

"Too much, if you ask me. I bet she has a crush on him" Brad said smirking.

"Don't be vulgar Brad. Suze holds Father Dominic in the highest respect, she sees him more of a mentor than a love interest" David said coldly.

**I said I liked it fine, especially the ocean. We had spent most of the day before at the beach, after I'd finished unpacking. I had found my sunglasses, and even though it was too cold to swim, I had a great time just lying on a blanket on the beach watching the waves. They were huge, bigger than on **_**Baywatch **_**and Doc spent most of the afternoon explaining to me why that was. **

"See this is why I like Suze. We can spend hours talking about everything and she'll attempt to listen and understand what I say" David said.

**I forget now since I was so drugged by the sun, u was hardly even listening.**

Brad and Jake sniggered and David glared at them. "I did say attempt"

**I found that I loved the beach, the smell of it, the seaweed that washed up on shore, the feel of the cool sand between my toes, the taste of salt on my skin when I got home. Carmel might not have had a Bagel Bob's but Manhattan sure didn't have no beach.**

**Father Dominic expressed his sincere hope that I'd be happy at the Mission Academy, and went on to explain that even though I wasn't Catholic, I shouldn't feel unwelcome at Mass. There were of course, Holy Days of Obligation when the Catholic students would be required to leave their lessons behind and go to church. I could either join them, or stay behind in the empty classroom, whatever I chose. **

"Of course she always chooses not to go and sits off in the class room" Brad muttered.

**I thought it was kind of funny, for some reason, but I managed to keep from laughing. Father Dominic was old, but what you'd probably call spry, and he struck me as sort of handsome**

"See told you, she has a crush on Father D!" Brad said gleefully.

Everyone else just rolled their eyes.

**In his white collar and black robes – I mean handsome for a sixty-year-old. He had white hair, and very blue eyes, and well maintained fingernails. I don't know many priests, but I thought this one might be all right – especially since he hadn't come down to hard on the boy in the outer office who'd called that nun a broad. **

**After Father Dominic had described the various offences I could get expelled for – skipping class too many times, dealing drugs on campus, the usual stuff**

"So how did Suze managed to not get expelled with her constant skipping?" Brad grumbled.

"Suze rarely ever skips" Andy said sternly. "She's skipped about twice and under emergency circumstances like that time of the month"

– **He asked if I had any questions. I didn't. Then he asked my mother if she had any questions. She didn't. So then Father Dominic stood up and said, "Fine then. I'll say goodbye to you, Mrs Ackerman, and walk Susannah to her first class. All right, Susannah?"**

"It was very considerate of him, especially since he must be so busy at the time"

**I thought it was kind of weird that the principal, who probably had a lot to do, was taking time out to walk me to my first class, but I didn't say anything about it. I just picked up my coat – a black wool trench**

"See, she says she doesn't wear excessive black and yet all we see her in is black" Brad pointed out.

**By Esprit, **_**très chic **_**(my mom wouldn't let me wear leather my first day of school) – and waited while he and my mother shook hands. My mom kissed me goodbye, and reminded me to find Sleepy at three, since he was in charge of driving me home – only she didn't call him Sleepy. Once again, a woeful lack of public transportation meant that I had to bum rides to and from school with my stepbrothers. **

"Yes a school bus would be most useful" David agreed.

**Then she was gone, and Father Dominic was walking me across the courtyard after having instructed Adam to wait for him. **

"**No prob, **_**Padre"**_** was Adam's response. He leered at me behind the father's back. **

"Oh Ew, that's gross" Brad said scrunching his face up.

"Disturbing" David agreed.

"Mental note, kill Adam" Jake muttered.

**It isn't often I get leered at by boys my own age. I hoped he was in my class. My mother's wishes for my social life just might be realized at last. **

**As we walked, Father Dominic explained a little about the building – or buildings, I should say since that's what they were. A series of thick walled adobe structures were connected by low-ceilinged breezeways, in the middle of which existed in the beautiful courtyard that came complete with palm trees, bubbling fountain, and a bronze statue of Father Serra with these women – your stereotypical Indian squaws, complete with papooses strapped to their backs – kneeling at his feet. **

"I bet the Native Americans would be highly offended at this portrayal and would probably have sued the school" David said smiling slightly.

**On the other side of the breezeway were stone benches for people to sit on while they enjoyed solitary contemplation of the courtyard's splendour, the doors to the classrooms and steel lockers were built right into the adobe wall. One of those lockers, Father Dominic explained to me, was mine. He had the combination with him. Did I want to put my coat away?**

**I had been surprised when I wakened Sunday morning to find myself shivering in my bed. I'd had to stumble out from beneath the sheets and slam my window shut. A thick fog, I saw with dismay, had enshrouded the valley, obscuring my view of the bay. I thought for sure some horrible tropical storm had rolled in**

Everyone laughed at this and David grinned at the memory of Suze bursting in his room in a panic and him patiently telling her about the weather patterns of Carmel even though they were both in their pyjamas and he was half asleep.

**, but Doc had explained to me, quite patiently, that morning fog was typical in the Northwest, and that the **_**Pacifico – **_**Spanish for passive – was so named because of its relative lack of storms. The fog, Doc had assured me, would burn off by noon, and it would then be just as hot as it had been the day before. **

**And he'd been right. By the time I returned home from the beach, sunburned and happy, my room had become an oven again, and I'd prised the windows back open – only to find that they'd been gently shut again when I woke up this morning, which I thought was sweet of my mom, looking out for me like that.**

"But I didn't close the window" Helen said slowly.

"Neither did I, I usually sleep like a log" Andy said turning to his sons.

"Don't look at us, we sleep like logs too. Sleepy especially" Brad said.

"Oi!" Jake protested weakly, knowing it was the truth but was still against the nickname. "We better hope it was just the wind or her father and not Jesse"

**At least, I **_**hope **_**it was my mom. Now that I think about it ...but no, I hadn't seen Jesse since that first day I'd moved in. It had definitely been my mom who'd shut my windows. **

"Oh, if only"

**Anyway, when I'd walked outside to get into Mom's car, I'd found that it was freezing out again, and that was why I was wearing the wool coat.**

**Father Dominic told me that my locker was number 273, and he seemed content to let me find it myself, strolling behind me with his eyes on the breezeway's rafters, in which, much to his professed delight, families of swallows nested every year. He was apparently quite fond of birds – of all animals**

"And people, Father Dominic is a very peoples person" Andy said.

**, actually, since one of the questions he'd asked me was how I was getting along with Max, the Ackerman's dog – and openly scoffed at Andy's repeated assurances that the timber in the breezeways was going to have to be replaced thanks to the swallows and their refuse. **

"Charming" Andy muttered. "Nice to know he listens to my advice"

**268, 269, 270. I strolled down the open corridor, watching the numbers on the beige locker doors. Unlike the ones in my school back in Brooklyn, these lockers were not graffitied, or dented, or plastered with stickers from heavy metal bands. I guess students on the West Coast took more pride in their school's appearance than us Yankees. **

"Nah, Sister Ernestine would have skinned us alive if we so much put a smiley sticker on our lockers" Brad said.

**271, 272. I stumbled to a halt.**

**In front of locker number 273 stood a ghost.**

"Better not be Jesse, I don't think I could handle the confusion of the two Jesses' anymore"

**It wasn't Jesse, either.**

"Oh thank god"

**It was a girl dressed very much like I was, only with long blonde hair, instead of brown, like mine. She also had an extremely unpleasant look on her face.**

"It can't be....can it?" Brad said turning to Jake who shrugged.

"**What," she said, to me, "Are **_**you **_**looking at?" then, speaking to someone behind me, she demanded, "**_**this **_**is who they let in to take my place? I am **_**so **_**sure"**

**Ok, I admit it. I freaked out. I spun around, and found myself gaping up at Father Dominic, who was squinting down at me curiously. **

"**Ah," he said when he saw my face. "I thought so"**

"WHAT?!"

"Father D has a lot to explain" Brad said shaking his head. "How can he be a priest when he's mental?"

David rolled his eyes. "Brad give it up. Suze can see ghosts and it appears that so can Father Dominic"

"This is getting ridiculous. First we had the whole two Jesses', one we know and the dead one and now Father Dominic can see ghosts as well? What's next, the earthquake that took down part of the school was caused by a ghost?" Andy said shaking his head. "I think I'm going to need an aspirin"


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: dedicated to Nova as a Xmas Pressie _

"Right then, I guess it's my turn to read" Andy said after his unsuccessful search for aspirin. He should have realised that Father Dominic wouldn't have considered that need of aspirin and the only few packets would be safely locked up in the bathroom cabinet.

**I looked from Father Dominic to the ghost girl and back again. Finally, I managed to blurt out, "you can **_**see **_**her?"**

"No shit Sherlock" Brad muttered.

"Bradley, language!" Andy stressed out.

**He nodded. "Yes. I suspected when I first heard your mother speak about you – and your...**_**problems **_**at your old school – that you might be one of us, Susannah. But I couldn't be sure, of course, so I didn't say anything. Although the name Simon, I'm sure you're aware, is from the Hebrew meaning 'intent listener', **

"It does?" Jake said everyone looked at David.

"I don't know! I don't know everything!" David snapped defensively.

Brad gasped. "I think I just saw a pig fly by"

**Which, as a fellow mediator, you of course would be..."**

**I barely heard him. I couldn't get over the fact that finally after all these years, I'd met another mediator. **

"She must have felt so lonely!" Helen said. "Oh my poor baby! Thank you for Father Dominic"

"**So **_**that's **_**why there aren't any Indian spirits around here!" I practically yelled. "**_**You **_**took care of them all. I expected to find hundreds-"**

**Father Dominic bowed his head modestly, and said. "Well, there weren't hundreds, exactly, but when I first arrived, there were quite a few. But it was nothing, really. I was only doing my duty, after all, making use of the heavenly gift I received from God"**

Jake snorted. "Suze ain't going to like that. She lacks religious belief"

**I made a face. "Is **_**that **_**who's responsible for it?"**

"**But of course ours is a gift from God" Father Dominic looked down at me with that special kind of pity the faithful always bestow upon us poor, pathetic creatures who have doubts. "Where else do you think it could come from?"**

"**I don't know. I've always kind of wanted to have a word with the guy in charge, you know? Because, given a choice I'd much rather not have been blessed with this particular gift"**

**Father Dominic looked surprised. "But why ever not, Susannah?"**

"Well Father Dom, my family thinks I'm a juvenile nutcase, my neighbours thought I was insane, my schoolmates thought I was a freak and I was often in trouble with the police" Brad said mimicking Suze's voice badly. "I wonder why I hate this so called blessed gift"

"That's enough Brad" Helen said sternly.

"**All it foes is gets me into trouble. Do you have any idea how many hours I've spent in the psychiatrist' office? My mother's convinced I'm a complete shizo"**

"Oh Suzie, no I didn't, I was just...concerned that you were unhappy, that you needed someone to talk to and give advice"

"**Yes" Father Dominic nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, I could see how a miraculous gift like ours might be considered by a layperson as – well. Unusual"**

"She's not going to like that" David commented.

"**Unusual? Are you **_**kidding **_**me?"**

"**I supposed I have been rather sheltered here in the Mission" Father Dominic admitted. "It never occurred to me that it must be extremely difficult for those of you out in the, err, trenches, so to speak, with no real ecclesiastical support-"**

"**Those of us?" I raised my eyebrows. "You mean there's more than just you and me?"**

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooo of course not, don't be ridiculous" Brad said sarcastically.

**He looked surprised. "Well, I just assumed...surely there must be. We can't be the last of our kind. No, no, surely there are others"**

"Oh God, imagine if they were the last of their kind and the only way to have more was to-"

"Another disgusting stupid word out of your mouth Brad to feed a disturbing mental image that is wrong on so many levels and I will gag you for the rest of the night" Jake growled.

"**Excuse me" the ghost looked at us very sarcastically. "But would you mind telling me what's going on here? Who is this bitch? Is she the one taking my place?"**

"**Hey! Watch your mouth" I shot her a dirty look. "This guy's a priest, you know"**

"She knows" Brad muttered rolling his eyes.

**She sneered at me. "Uh, duh. I **_**know **_**he's a priest. He's only been trying to get rid of me all week"**

**I glanced at Father Dominic in surprise and he said, looking embarrassed. "Well, you see, Heather's being a bit obstinate-"**

"She was a stubborn snotty cow, the end"

"I quite agree"

"Brad, Jake at least try to be respectful about the girl" Andy scolded his eldest sons.

"**If you think" Heather said, in her snotty little voice. "That I'm going to just stand back and let you assign my locker to this bitch-"**

"**Call me a bitch one more time, missy" I said, "and I'll make sure you spend the rest of eternity**_** inside**_** this locker of yours"**

"She would as well, Suze rarely bluffs"

**Heather looked at me without the slightest trace of fear. "Bitch" she said stretching the word out so it contained multiple syllables. **

**I hit her so fast that she never saw my fist coming.**

"Suzie!"

"Go Suze!"

"David!"

"What, I never liked her either and she just called my sister a bitch"

**I hit her hard, hard enough to send her reeling into the line of lockers and leave a long, body-shaped dent in them. She landed hard, too, on the stone floor, but was on her feet again a second later. I expected her to strike back at me, but instead, Heather got up and, with a whimper, ran for all she was worth down the corridor. **

The boys roared with laughter, ignoring their parents' disappointed glares.

"**Huh" I said, mostly to myself. "**_**Chicken"**_

Even more laughter. Helen and Andy sighed heavily, giving up chiding their sons to be respectful.

**She'd be back, of course. I'd only startled her. She'd be back. But hopefully when I saw her again, she'd have a slightly improved attitude. **

**Heather gone, I blew lightly on my knuckles. Ghosts have surprisingly bony jaws.**

"**So" I said. "What were you saying, Father?"**

**Father Dominic, still staring at where Heather had been standing, remarked, pretty drily for a priest. "Interesting mediation techniques they're teaching out east these days"**

"Translation, Susannah how could you use such violence" David said giggling.

"**Hey" I said. "Nobody calls me names and gets away with it. I don't care how tortured he was in his past life. Or hers"**

"**I think" Father Dominic said, thoughtfully, "There are some things we need to discuss, you and I"**

**Then he brought a finger to his lips. To one side of us a door opened and a large man, his face heavily bearded looked out into the breezeway, having heard the crash of Heather's astral body – funny how much the dead can weigh – hitting the row of lockers. **

"I always wondered what happened to Suze's locker" Brad said loudly. "The dent was very strange and it's unusual for someone to damage something in the school...death by nuns if you did"

"**Everything all right, Dom?" he asked, when he saw Father Dominic. **

"**Everything's fine, Carl" Father Dominic said. "Just fine. And look what I've brought you" Father Dominic placed a hand on my shoulder. "Your newest pupil, Susannah Simon. Susannah, meet your homeroom teacher, Carl Walden"**

**I stuck out the hand I'd just knocked Heather senseless with. "How do you do, Mr Walden?"**

"Very split personality like" David commented.

"Nah just women" Jake said, shrinking under his stepmother's glare.

"**Just fine, Miss Simon. Just fine" Mr Walden's enormous hand engulfed mine. He didn't look much like a teacher for me. He looked more like a lumberjack. In fact, he practically had to flatten himself against the wall to give me room to slip past him into his classroom. "Nice to have you with us" he said, in his big, booming voice. "Thanks, Dom, for bringing her over"**

"**Not a problem" Father Dominic said. "We were just having a little difficulty with her locker. You probably heard it. Didn't mean to disturb you. I'll have the custodian look into it. In the meantime, Susannah, I'll expect you back in my office at three, to, um, fill out the rest of those forms"**

"I can't believe that Father D is such a good liar" Brad said shaking his head. "It goes against all laws of nature"

**I smiled at him sweetly. "Oh, no can do, Father. My ride leaves at three"**

"Crafty"

**Father Dominic scowled at me. "Then I'll send you a pass. Expect one around two"**

"**Ok," I said, and waggled my fingers at him. "Buh-bye"**

"Sickly sweet"

**I guess on the West Coast you aren't supposed to say buh-bye to the principal, or waggle your fingers at him, since when I turned around to face my new classmates, they were all staring at me with their mouths hanging open. **

"I think they were horrified at the ugliness of her more than anything"

"Ok, that's it! No more unnecessary interruptions. Brad I want you to sit in that corner for the rest of this entry and think about how rude and inconsiderate you have been" Andy snapped pointing to a corner between the sofa and the wall. "Now Bradley before I ground you"

Brad grumbled under his breath as he moved to the corner, sat hunched over, arms round his knees as he sulked.

**Maybe it was my outfit. I had worn a little bit more black than usual, due to nerves. When in doubt, I always say, wear black. You can never go wrong with black.**

**Or maybe you can. Because as I looked around at the gaping faces, I didn't see a single black garment in the lot. A lot of white, a few browns, and a heck lot of khaki, but no black. **

**Oops. **

**Mr Walden didn't seem to notice my discomfort. He introduced me to the class, and made me tell them where I cam from. I told them, and they all stared at me blankly. I began to feel sweat pricking the back of my neck. I have to tell you, sometimes I prefer the company of the undead to the company of my peers. Sixteen year olds can be really scary. **

"True, children can be horribly cruel" Helen agreed.

**But Mr Walden was a good guy. He only made me stand there a minute, under all those stares and then he told me to take a seat. **

**This sounds like a simple thing, right? Just go and take a seat. But you see, there were two seats. One was next to this really pretty tanned girl, with thick curly honey-blonde hair. The other was way in the back, behind a girl with hair so white, and skin so pink, she could only be an albino. **

"Ah the choice that defines Suze's social life for the rest of her high school years" David said. "Very tough, is it to be popular or not to be popular?"

**No, I am not kidding. An **_**albino.**_

"Yes it is a bit unusual but I'm sure Cee Cee doesn't appreciate being gawked at like a freak show" Helen said sternly.

**Two things influenced my decision. One was that when I saw the seat in the back, I also happened to see that the windows, directly behind that seat, looked out across the school parking lot. **

"Oh very inspiring" Jake said sarcastically.

**Ok, not such an inspiring view, you might say. But beyond the parking lot was the sea.**

**I am not kidding. This school, my new school, had a view of the Pacific that was even better than the one in my bedroom since the school was so much closer to the beach. You could actually see the waves from my homeroom's windows. I wanted to sit as close to the window as possible. **

"She really loves the ocean" David said fondly. "If it wasn't for her dislike for animals, I would suggest marine biologist as a career"

**The second reason I sat there was simple: I didn't want to take the seat by the tan girl and have the albino girl think I'd done it because I didn't wasn't to sit near anyone as weird-looking as she was. Stupid, right? Like she'd even care what I did. But I didn't even hesitate. I saw the sea, I saw the albino, and I went for it. **

"I hope she never tells Cee Cee that. I don't think she would be very happy with Suze"

**As soon as I sat down, of course, this girl a few seats away snickered and went under her breath, but perfectly audibly, "God, sit by the freak, why don't you"**

Helen pursed her lips and Andy glared at the book.

**I looked at her. She had perfectly curled hair and perfectly made-up eyes. I said, not talking under my breath at all. "Excuse me, do you have Tourette's?"**

David laughed out loud while his parents smiled and Jake blinked. Brad didn't do anything but continue to sulk in his corner.

**Mr Walden had turned around to write something on the board, but the sound of my voice stopped him. Everybody turned around to look at me, including the girl who'd spoken. She blinked at me, startled. "What?"**

"**Tourette's Syndrome" I said. "It's a neurological disorder that causes people to say things they don't really mean.**

"Ah" Jake said finally understanding Suze's question.

**Do you have it?"**

**The girl's cheeks had slowly started turning scarlet. "No"**

"**Oh," I said. "So you were being purposefully rude"**

"**I wasn't calling **_**you**_** a freak" the girl said quickly. **

"**I'm aware of that" I said. "That's why I'm going to break**_** one **_**of your fingers after school, instead of **_**all**_** of them"**

"Suzie! How could you?!" Helen said appalled at her daughter's behaviour. "Do you have any idea how lucky you are that Mr Walden didn't give you a detention?"

**She spun around real fast to face the front of the classroom. I settled back into my chair. I don't know what everybody started buzzing about after that, but I did see the albino's scalp – which was plainly visible beneath the white of her hair – turn a deep magenta with embarrassment. Mr Walden had to call everyone to order, and when people ignored him, he slammed his fist down on his desk and told us that if we had so damned much to say, we could say it in a thousand-word essay on the battle at Bladensburg during the War of 1812, double-spaced, and due on his desk first thing tomorrow morning. **

"It's a wonder Suze managed to be so popular after that" David observed.

**Oh well. Good thing I wasn't in school to make friends. **

"Oh Suzie" Helen said shaking her head sadly as she took the book from Andy. "I wish you could be a bit more sociable at times. Just a little bit, so you wouldn't be so lonely"

Andy took Helen's hand. "Hey, it's ok, she managed it didn't she? Had a couple boyfriends here and there before settling down with a good guy. Has very good friends by her side and is involved with a lot of school committee stuff" he kissed his wife's hand. "We did a good job"

Helen smiled at him. "Thank you" she said before leaning up and kissing him fully on the lips, ignoring the boys' groans of disgust. "You can come out of the corner now Brad, we're starting a new entry"


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's note: Lollzie's Christmas present xxx_

Brad crawled out of the corner sulkily and sat cross-legged against the sofa. "I'm sorry for being rude and inconsiderate about Suze" Brad said stiffly.

Helen bent down and ruffled his hair. "You're forgiven but you still need to apologise to Suze"

Brad stiffened and paled. It was not a conversation he was looking forwards to. Helen smirked to herself knowing full well her daughter would give Brad hell. Why punish your kid when your other child can do it probably even better than you could? She began to read the next entry in a loud, clear voice.

**And yet I did. Make friends, I mean. **

**I didn't try to. I didn't really want to. I mean, I have enough friends back in Brooklyn. I have Gina, the best friend anybody could have. I didn't need any more friends than that. **

Helen sighed. "Suzie, you can't just have one friend and leave it at that" she said disapprovingly. "It's not healthy"

**And I really didn't think anybody here was going to like me – not after having been assigned a thousand-word essay because of what happened when I sat down. And especially not after what happened when we were informed that it was time for second period – there was no bell system at the Mission School, we changed class on the hour, and have five minutes to get where we were going. No sooner had Mr Walden dismissed us than the albino girl turned around and asked, her purple eyes glowing furiously behind the tinted lenses of her glasses. "Am I supposed to be grateful to you or something for what you said to Debbie?"**

Helen's eyes widened, Andy looked rather stunned, David blinked and Jake looked awake.

"Wow...i didn't know they started off badly" Brad voiced their thoughts. "Or that Cee Cee had such a mean streak to her"

"**You" I said, standing up, "aren't supposed to be anything as far as I'm concerned"**

**She stood up too. "But that's why you did it, right? Defended the albino? Because you felt sorry for me?"**

"Even if that was why, you should have been polite about it!" Helen snapped at the book.

"**I did it" I said, folding my coat over my arm, "because Debbie is a troll"**

Jake and David burst out laughing and Brad merely shrugged, knowing full well that Suze was right. Besides the only reason he was with Debbie half the time was because Kelly never gave him the time of day.

**I saw the corners of her lips twitch. Debbie had swept up her books and practically run for the door the minute Mr Walden had dismissed us. She and a bunch of other girls, including the pretty tanned one who'd had the empty seat next to her, were whispering amongst themselves and casting me dirty looks over their Ralph Lauren sweater-draped shoulders. **

"It's like an army of clones" David shuddered.

**I could tell the albino wanted to laugh at my calling Debbie a troll, but she wouldn't let herself. She said, fiercely, "I can fight my own battles, you know. I don't need your help, New York"**

**I shrugged. "Fine with me, Carmel"**

**She couldn't help smiling then. When she did, she revealed a mouthful of braces that winked as brightly as the sear outside the window. "It's Cee Cee" she said. **

"**What's Cee Cee?"**

"**My name. I'm Cee Cee" she stuck out a milky-white hand, the nails of which were painted a violent orange. "Welcome to the Mission Academy"**

"And thus the friendship starts" Jake said. "God girls are weird. They were bitching at one another just a second ago"

"Language" Andy said automatically.

**At nine o-clock, Mr Walden had dismissed her. By nine-oh-two, Cee Cee had introduced me to twenty other people, most of whom trotted after me as we moved to our next class, wanting to know what it was like to have lived in New York City. **

"**Is it really," one horsy-looking girl asked, wistfully, "as...**_**metropolitan **_**as they all say?"**

**These girls, I probably don't have to add, were not the class lookers. **

"Of course not, don't be ridiculous" Brad muttered sarcastically, hoping that no one heard him and would send him back to the corner.

**They were not, I saw at once, on speaking terms with the pretty tanned girl and the one whose fingers I threatened to break after school, who were the ones so well turned out in their sweater sets and khaki skirts. Oh no. The girls who came up to me were a motley bunch, some acned, some overweight, or way too skinny. I was horrified to see that one was wearing open-toe shoes with reinforced toe pantyhose. Beige pantyhose, too. And white shoes. In January!**

"Fashion police, much?" Brad said raising an eyebrow.

"Yes she is a little obsessive" Helen agreed.

**I could see I was going to have my work cut out for me.**

"I don't think the girl would appreciate a makeover" David said. "After all it would imply that she doesn't look good and that's rather hurtful"

**Cee Cee appeared to be the leader of their little pack. Editor of the school paper, the **_**Mission News, **_**which she called 'more of a literary review than an actual newspaper' **

"Very true, though the material is very well written" David said.

**Cee Cee had been in earnest when she informed me she did not need me to fight her battles for her. She had plenty of ammunition of her own, including a pretty packed arsenal of verbal zingers and an extremely serious work ethic. Practically the first thing she asked me – after she got over being made at me – was if I'd be interested in writing a piece for her paper. **

"**Nothing fancy" she said, airily. "Maybe just an essay comparing East Coast and West Coast teen culture. I'm sure you must see a lot of differences between us and your friends back in New York. Whaddaya say? My readers would be plenty interested – especially girls like Kelly and Debbie. Maybe you could slip in something about how on the East Coast being tan is like a faux pas"**

"Ooh, she is so evil" Brad muttered. "No wonder she and Suze get on so well"

**Then she laughed, not sounding evil, exactly, but definitely not innocent, either. But that, I soon realized, was Cee Cee, all bright smiles – made brighter by those wicked looking braces – and bouncy good humour. She was as famous, apparently, for her wise-cracking as for her big horse-laugh, which sometimes bubbled out of her when she couldn't control it, and rang out with unabashed joy, and was inevitably hushed by the prissy novices who acted as hall monitors, keeping us from bothering the tourists who came to snap pictures of Junipero Serra being fawned over by those poor bronze Indian woman. **

**The Mission Academy was a small one. There were only seventy sophomores. I was thankful that Dopey and I had conflicting schedules,**

"Trust me, so am I" Brad muttered.

**So that the only period we shared in common was lunch. Lunch, by the way, was conducted in the schoolyard, which was to one side of the parking lot, a huge grassy playground overlooking the sea, with seniors slumping on the same benches as second graders, and seagulls converging on anyone foolish enough to toss out a fry. I know because I tried it. Sister Ernestine – the one Adam, who was in my social studies class, it turned out, had called a broad – came up to me and told me never to do it again.**

Everyone laughed. "I don't think she needed that, she would have gotten it from the mob she caused"

**As if I hadn't gotten the point the minute fifty giant squawking gulls came swooping down from the sky and surrounded me, the way pigeons used to in Washington Square Park if you were foolish enough to throw out a bit of pretzel. **

Helen shook her head, smiling fondly. "Silly girl, just because it's not a pigeon doesn't mean they won't act like birds"

**Anyway, Sleepy and Doc shared my lunch period too. That was the only time I saw the Ackermans at school. It was interesting to observe them in their native environment.**

"It is?"

**I was pleased to see that I had been correct in my estimation of their characters.**

"She was?"

**Doc hung with a crowd of extremely nerdy-looking kids, most of whom wore glasses and actually balanced their laptop computers on their laps, something I'd never thought was actually done. Dopey hung with jocks, around whom flocked – the way the seagulls had flocked around me – the pretty tanned girls in our class, including the one I'd eschewed sitting beside. Their conversation seemed to consist of what they'd gotten for Christmas, thing being their first day back from break, and who'd broken the most limbs skiing in Tahoe. **

"Yep, no one really broke many that year so the conversation was a bit dull. But Todd got this cool new x-box game called-"

"We don't care" Jake said monotonously.

**Sleepy was perhaps the most interesting, however. **

"He was?"

Jake shrugged. "I sleep during lunch, maybe I drool?"

**Not that he woke up. Please. But he sat at one of the picnic tables with his eyes closed and his faced turned to the sun. Since I can see this at home, this was not what interested me. No, what interested me was what was going on beside Sleepy. **

"Ah...Bryce" Jake said shaking his head. "An idiot if I knew one"

**And that was an incredibly good-looking boy who did nothing but stare straight ahead of him with a look of abject sadness on his face. Occasionally girls would walk by – as girls will when there is a good-looking boy nearby – and say hi to him, and he'd tears his eyes away from the sea – which was what he was staring at – and say, "oh hi" to them before turning his gaze back to those hypnotic waves. **

**It occurred to me that Sleepy and his friend might very well be potheads. It would explain a lot about Sleepy. **

"Hey!" Jake said offended.

**But when I asked Cee Cee if she knew who the guy was and whether or not he had a drug problem, she said, "Oh, that's Bryce Martinson. No, he's not on drugs. He's just sad, you know, 'cause his girlfriend died over the break"**

"An awful girl, who ignored me unless she wanted something for her little friends and treated people like scum" Jake muttered.

"While you just ignore everyone" Brad pointed out.

Jake shrugged. "I need to sleep"

"**Really?" I chewed on my corn dog. The food service at the Mission Academy left a lot to be desired. I could see now why so many kids brought their own. Today's entree had been hot dogs. **

"Hmm....maybe I should start preparing lunchboxes then" Andy said to himself. "I can't keep letting you kids eat junk"

**I am not kidding. Hot dogs. "How'd she die?"**

"**Put a bullet in her brain" Adam, the kid from the principal's office, had joined us. He was eating Cheetos from a giant bag he'd pulled from a leather backpack. A Louis Vuitton backpack, I might add. "Blew the back of her head away"**

"Urgh!" Helen said, wincing in disgust. "How heartless"

**One of the horsy girls turned around, having overhead, and went, "God, Adam. How cold can you get?"**

**Adam shrugged. "Hey. I didn't like her when she was alive. I'm not gonna say I liked her now just because she's dead. In fact, if anything, I hate her more.**

"These children are unnervingly cold" Helen muttered.

**I heard we're all going to have to do the Stations of the Cross for her on Wednesday"**

"**Right" Cee Cee looked disgusted. "We have to pray for her immortal soul since she committed suicide and is destined to burn in hell for all eternity now"**

"I thought that was Purgatory" everyone said confused.

**Adam looked thoughtful. "Really? I thought suicides went to Purgatory"**

"**No, stupid. Why do you think Monsignor Constantine won't let Kelly have her dumb memorial surface? Suicide is a mortal sin. Monsignor Constantine won't allow suicide to be memorialized in his church. He won't even let her parents bury her in consecrated ground" Cee Cee rolled her violet eyes. "I never liked Heather, but I **_**hate **_**Monsignor Constantine and his stupid rules even more. I'm thinking of doing an article about it, and calling it 'Father, Son and the Holy Hypocrite'" **

Everyone laughed.

"She's right though" Andy said grinning.

**The other girls tittered nervously. I waited until they were done and then I asked. "Why'd she kill herself?"**

**Adam looked bored. "Because of Bryce, of course. He broke up with her"**

"Such a stupid thing to kill yourself over" Helen said shaking her head. "A boy of all things, it's not like the world ended"

**A pretty black girl named Bernadette, who towered over the rest of us at six feet, leaned down to whisper, "I heard he did it at the mall. Can you believe it?"**

"Oh how heartless of him" Brad said sarcastically rolling his eyes.

**Another girl said. "Yeah, on Christmas Eve. They were Christmas shopping with each other, and she pointed to this diamond ring in the window at Bergdorf's and was like, 'I want that' and I guess he freaked – you know, it was clearly an engagement ring – and broke up with her on the spot"**

"Ok, that is a bit heartless, but still! You can't put a guy under pressure like that!"

"**And so she went home and shot herself?" I found this story extremely far-fetched. When I'd asked Cee Cee where we were supposed to have lunch if, God forbid, it should happen to rain, she told me that everyone had to sit in their homeroom and eat, and the nuns brought out board games like Parcheesi for people to play. I was wondering if this story, like the rainy-day lunches, was an invention.**

"No we really do have lunch in homeroom and play board games" David said. "Suze really can't trust people, can she?"

"She finds it difficult" Helen agreed.

**Cee Cee was exactly the kind of girl who would get a kick out of lying to the new kid – not out of maliciousness, but just to amuse herself. **

"But that is malicious!"

"**Not then" Cee Cee said. "She tried to get back together with him for a while. She called him like every ten minutes, until finally his mother told her not to call anymore. Then she started sending him letters, telling him what she was going to do – you know, kill herself if he didn't get back together with her. When he didn't respond, she got her dad's forty-four and drove to Bryce's house and ran the bell"**

"God, she was a desperate girl. I'm surprised that the police didn't get involved" Andy said raising his eyebrows.

**Adam took up the narrative at this point, so I knew gore was probably going to be involved. "Yeah" he said, standing up so that he could act it, using a Cheeto as the gun. **

Brad and Jake laughed.

"**The Martinsons were having a New Year's party – it was New Year's Eve – so they were home and everything. They opened up the door, and there was this crazy girl on their porch, with a gun to her head. She said if they didn't get Bryce, she was going to pull the trigger. But they couldn't get Bryce because they'd sent him to Antigua-"**

"**- hoping a little sun and surf would soothe his frazzled nerves" Cee Cee put in, "because you know, he's got his college apps to worry about right now. He doesn't need to have the added pressure of a stalker"**

"So why not call the police and get an restraining order?"

**Adam glared at her, and went on, holding the Cheeto to the side of his head. "Yeah, well, that was a gross error on the part of the Martinsons. As soon as she heard Bryce was out of the country, she pulled the trigger, and blew out the back of her skull, and bits of her brain and stuff stuck to the Christmas lights the Martinsons had strung up"**

Helen shuddered, Andy winced and the others pulled faces.

"Lovely, just the description I needed to hear at lunch time" Andy said sarcastically. "Blimey you kids are gruesome at times"

**Everyone but me groaned at this particular detail. I had other things on my mind, however. "The empty chair in homeroom. The one by what's-her-name – Kelly. That was the dead girl's seat, wasn't it?"**

**Bernadette nodded. "Yeah. That's why we thought it was so weird when you walked past it. It was like you knew that that was where Heather had sat. We all thought maybe you were psychic or something-"**

"You're also very stupid to think that" Andy said shaking his head.

"Oh come on Dad, she can speak to the dead why not see the future/past as well" Brad teased.

**I didn't bother telling them that the reason I hadn't sat in Heather's sear had nothing whatsoever to do with being psychic. I didn't say anything, actually. I was thinking, **_**Gee, Mom, nice of you to tell me why there was suddenly this space for me, when before the school had been too crowded to let in another new student. **_

"Like I could tell her that! She would have been mortified and refuse to come here" Helen exclaimed.

"You withhold a lot from her though" David observed. "Rather selfish of you really" Helen glared at him and he jump back a bit. "I'm sorry!" he said quickly.

**I stared at Bryce. He was tanned from his trip to Antigua. He sat on the picnic table with his feet on the bench, his elbows on his knees staring out at the Pacific. A gentle wind tugged at some of his sandy-blond hair. **

"Oh god, don't tell me we're going to hear all about her lustful thoughts on him as well" Brad spat out disgusted.

**He had no idea, I thought. He has no idea at all. He thinks he's got it bad? Just wait. **

**Just wait. **

Everyone shuddered.

"Well that was ominous" David said.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: Maple's Christmas Present. _

Jake took the book from Helen and began to read calmly.

**He didn't have to wait long. **

"Oh sh-fudge" Brad said carefully glancing at his father.

"Fudge?" David repeated, his eyes glittering with humour.

**In fact, it was right after lunch that she came after him. Not that he ever knew it, of course. I spotted her immediately in the crowd as everybody headed towards their lockers. Ghosts have a sort of flow about them that sets them apart from the living – thank God, too, or half the time I might never have known the difference.**

"And end up talking to thin air in front of everyone, blimey that would have sent her into a psychiatric ward faster than anything" Brad said shaking his head.

"Brad, I didn't know you knew the meaning of psychiatric" David said innocently.

"Hey!" Brad snapped as everyone chuckled lightly.

**Anyway, there she was staring daggers at him like one of those blond kids out of **_**Village of the Damned**_**. People, not knowing she was there, kept walking through her.**

Everyone shuddered.

"I really hope I never walked through her" Brad said.

"Me too" Jake agreed.

**I sort of envied them. I wish ghosts were invisible to me like they were to everybody else. I know that would have meant I wouldn't be standing there knowing Heather was about to do something horrible.**

"Really? I would have never guessed" Brad said sarcastically.

**Not that I knew what it was she planned on doing to him. Ghosts can get pretty rough sometimes. The trick Jesse had done with the mirror was nothing, really. I've had objects thrown at me with enough force that,**

"What?!" Helen shrieked, horrified.

**If I hadn't ducked, I'd certainly be one with the spirit world as well.**

"WHAT?!" Helen shrieked even louder, her hand reaching out and grabbing tightly onto Andy's.

Andy's other hand soothingly drew circles on her hand. "Honey" he cooed softly. "Suze is a strong girl; smart too, she's kept herself alive and will remain doing so"

Helen relaxed slightly but still remained alert and holding tightly to Andy.

**I've had concussions and broken bones galore. My mom just thinks I'm accident prone. Yeah, Mom. That's right. I broke my wrist falling down the stairs. Oh, and the reason I fell down the stairs is that the ghost of a three-hundred-year-old conquistador pushed me. **

"I wonder if that means the time with Michael it was actually a ghost" David wondered.

"Don't be stupid David" Brad said laughing slightly. "I doubt a ghost had anything to do with that incident. Michael was a psycho, the end"

**The minute I saw Heather, though, I knew she was up to no good. I was not basing this assumption on my previous interaction with her. Oh, no. See, I followed the direction of Heather's gaze, and saw that it wasn't Bryce, exactly, that she was staring at. It was actually one of the rafters in the section of the breezeway **

"Holy crap!" Brad said. "You mean that was due to a ghost as well?!"

"I don't like the sound of this" Andy said ignoring his son's language.

**Beneath which Bryce was walking that had her attention. And as I stood there, I saw the timber start to shake. Not the whole breezeway. Oh, no. Just one single, heavy piece. The piece directly over Bryce's head. **

"Oh bugger" Brad muttered.

**I acted without thought. I threw myself as hard as I could at Bryce. We both went flying. And good thing too. Because we were still rolling when I heard an enormous explosion. I ducked my head to shield my eyes, so I didn't actually see the piece of timber explode. But I heard it. And I felt it, too. Those tiny splinters of wood **_**hurt **_**as they pelted me. Good thing I was wearing wool slacks, too.**

Everyone winced and Helen's grip to Andy's hand tightened.

"Ye-ouch" Brad said sympathetically.

**Bryce lay so still beneath me that I thought maybe a chunk of wood had got him between the frontal lobes or something. But when I lifted my face from is chest, I saw that he was ok**

"Yeah but he's a squeamish little git. Reason why he ran off when Heather was being all stalkerish. Too _delicate_ to handle awkward and bloodthirsty situations" Jake said rolling his eyes. "I doubt him and Suze would have worked out well. She would have killed him in a week out of sheer frustration"

– **he was just staring horrified, at the ten-inch-thick plank of wood, nearly two feet long, that lay a few feet away from us. All around us were scattered shards of wood that had broken off the main piece. I guess Bryce was realizing that if that plank had succeeded in splintering his cranium, there'd have been little pieces of Bryce scattered all around that stone floor too.**

"Urgh" Andy groaned.

"I did not need that image" Helen murmured shaking her head.

"**Excuse me. Excuse me-" I heard Father Dominic's strained voice, and saw him push through the crowd of stunned over lookers. He froze when he saw the chunk of wood, but when his gaze took in Bryce and me, he sprung into action again.**

"Thank you God for giving us Father Dominic" Andy said solemnly.

"**Good God in heaven" he cried, hurrying towards us. "Are you children all right? Susannah, are you hurt? Bryce?"**

**I sat up slowly. I frequently have to check for broken bones, **

"I wish she didn't have the _need_ to check for broken bones frequently" Helen muttered.

**and have found over the years, that the slower you get up, the more chance you have at discovering what's broken, and the less chance there is you'll put weight on it.**

**But in this particular case, nothing seemed broken. I got to my feet. **

"**Good gracious" Father Dom was saying. "Are you sure you're all right?"**

"**I'm fine" I said, brushing myself off. There were little pieces of wood all over me. And this was my best Donna Karen jacket. I looked around for Heather – really, if I'd have found her at that particular moment, I'd have killed her, I really would have...except, of course, that she's already dead. But she was gone. **

"Good thing as well otherwise she would have caused a huge scene and everyone will think of her as psycho" Brad said.

"**God" Bryce said, coming up to me. He didn't look hurt, just shaken up a little. Actually, it would have been hard to hurt a guy as big as he was. He was six feet tall and broad shouldered, a genuine Baldwin. **

**And he was talking to me. **_**Me!**_

"**God are you ok?" he wanted to know. **

Brad laughed. "He thought she was God?"

"I told you, he's an idiot" Jake said with a shrug.

"**Thank you. God. I think you must have saved my life"**

"**Oh" I said. "It was nothing really" I couldn't resist reaching out and plucking a splinter of wood from sweater vest. Cashmere. Just as I'd suspected. **

"**What is going on here?" a tall guy in a lot of robes with a red beanie on his head came pushing through the crowd. **

Everyone but Helen groaned.

**When he saw the wood on the ground, then looked up to take in the gaping hole where it was supposed to be, he turned on Father Dom, and said, "See? See Dominic? This is what comes of you letting your precious birds nest wherever they want! Mr Ackerman warned us this might happen and look! He was right! Somebody might have been killed!"**

"Yes but apparently my theory was wrong" Andy muttered darkly glaring at the book. "It was apparently the ghost of the girl you refused to allow be buried in the cemetery"

**So this, then, was Monsignor Constantine. **

"**I'm so sorry, Monsignor" Father Dom said. "I can't think how such a thing could have happened. Thank heavens no one was hurt" he turned to Bryce and me. "You two **_**are **_**all right? You know, I think Miss Simon looks a little pale. I'll just take her off to see the nurse, if that's all right with you, Susannah. The rest of you children get on to class now. Everyone is all right. It was just an accident. Run along, now"**

"A gifted liar and a brilliant leader" Brad commented. "Thank God, he works for good and not evil"

**Amazingly, people did as he said. Father Dominic had that kind of way about him. You just sort of had to do what he said. Thank God he used his powers for good instead of evil!**

Brad wrinkled his nose up in disgust while the others chuckled in amusement.

**I wish the same could have been said of the monsignor. He stood in the suddenly empty corridor, staring down at the piece of wood. Anybody could tell just to look at it that it wasn't the least bit rotten. The wood wasn't new by any means, but it was perfectly dry. **

"**I'm having those bird nests removed, Dominic" the monsignor said bitterly. "All of them. We simply can't take these kinds of risks. Supposing one of the tourists had been standing here?**

"Oh just shut up and go away" Brad moaned. "No one likes you!"

**Or, God forbid, the archbishop. He's coming next month, you know. What if Archbishop Rivera had been standing here and this beam had fallen? What then, Dominic?"**

**The nuns who'd come out, hearing all the ruckus, cast looks of such reproof at poor Father Dominic that I nearly said something. I opened my mouth the do so,**

Jake grinned; David bit his lip to prevent a giggle and Brad's lips twitched. "That would have been rather interesting" Andy said.

Helen shook her head. "I'm sure the monsignor is a pleasant man once you get to know him" she said in a disapproving tone.

The men snorted.

**In fact, but Father Dom tightened his grip on my arm and started marching me away. "Of course" he called. "You're quite right. I'll get the custodial staff right on it, Monsignor. We couldn't have the archbishop injured. No, indeed"**

"**God, what a pus-head!" I said, **

Everyone laughed.

**As soon as we were safely behind the closed door to the principal's office. "Is he kidding, thinking a couple of birds could do that?"**

"Well we all thought it too" Andy said with a shrug.

**Father Dominic had gone straight across the room to a small cabinet in which there were a number of trophies and plaques – teaching awards, I found out later. Before he'd been reassigned by the diocese to an administrative position, Father Dominic had been a popular and much-loved teacher of biology. He reached behind one of the awards and drew out a packet of cigarettes. **

"I don't believe it!" Brad yelped. "The priest smokes as well as lies!"

"I can hardly believe it either" Andy said shaking his head.

"**I'm sure it isn't a bit sacrilegious, Susannah" he said, looking down at the red and white pack, "to refer to a monsignor in the Catholic Church as a pus-head"**

"**Good thing I'm not Catholic, then" I said. "And you can smoke one of those if you want to" I nodded at the cigarettes in his hand. "I won't tell"**

"You have now" Brad pointed out.

"Yeah but she doesn't know we're reading her diary" Andy shot back.

**He looked down longingly at the pack for a minute more, then heaved this big sigh, and put them back where he'd found them. "No" he said. "Thank you, but I'd better not"**

**Jeez. Maybe it was a good thing I'd never really gotten the hang of smoking thing. **

"Yes. It is a very good thing" Helen said coldly.

**I thought I'd better change the subject, so I stooped to examine some of the teaching awards. "1964" I said. "You've been around awhile"**

"**I have" Father Dom sat down behind his desk. "What, in heaven's name happened out there, Susannah?"**

"**Oh" I shrugged. "That was just Heather. I guess we know now why she's sticking around. She wants to kill Bryce Martinson"**

"That's not going to go over too well"

**Father Dominic shook his head. "This is terrible. It really is. I've never seen such...such violence from a spirit. Never, not in all my years as a mediator"**

"Lucky him. I wish my daughter had that luck"

"Something tells me that luck is about to run out" David said with a wince.

"**Really?" I looked out the window. The principal's office looked, not out to the sea, but towards the hills where I lived. "Hey" I said. "You can see my house from here!"**

"**And she was always such a sweet girl, too. We never had a disciplinary problem from Heather Chambers, not in all her years at the Mission Academy. What could be causing her to feel so much hatred fro a young man she professed to love?"**

"Blimey, Father D has no idea about girls. They're psycho"

**I glanced at him over my shoulder. "Are you kidding me?"**

"**Yes, well, I know they broke up, but such extreme emotions – this killing rage she's in. Surely that's quite unusual-"**

**I shook my head. "Excuse me, I know you took a vow of celibacy and all, but haven't you ever been in love? **

"Bit stupid to ask a priest that" Jake muttered to himself.

**Don't you know what its like? That guy hosed her. She thought they were going to get married. I know, that was stupid, especially since she's only what, sixteen? Still, he just hosed her. If that's not enough to inspire a killing rage in a girl, I don't know what is"**

"How does she know?" Brad asked Helen. "What love is like?"

"Romance novels are my best guess. After all before Carmel she never had a relationship"

**He studied me thoughtfully. "You're speaking from experience"**

"**Who me? Not quite. I mean, I've had crushes on guys and stuff but I can't say any of them have ever returned the favour" much to my chagrin. "Still I can **_**imagine**_** how Heather must have felt when he broke up with her"**

"**Like killing herself, I suppose" Father Dominic said.**

"**Exactly. But killing herself didn't turn out to be enough. She won't be satisfied until she takes him down with her"**

"Because she is a psycho"

"**This is dreadful" Father Dominic said. "Really, really dreadful. I've talked with her until I was blue in the face, and she won't listen. And now, the first day back, this happens. I'm going to have to advise that the young man stay home until we can get this resolved"**

"How?"

**I laughed. "How are you going to do that? Tell him his dead girlfriend's trying to kill him? Oh, yeah, that'll go over well with the monsignor"**

"**Not at all" Father Dom opened a drawer, and started rifling through it. "With a little ingenuity, I can see that Mr Martinson is out for a solid week or two"**

"What does he have in that desk, a flu germ?" David asked interestedly.

"**Oh no way!" I felt myself go pale. "You're going to poison him? I thought you were a priest! Isn't there a rule against that sort of thing?"**

"Father Dominic, poison someone? Impossible" Andy said shaking his head.

"**Poison? No, no, Susannah. I was thinking of giving him head lice. The nurse checks for them once a semester. I'll just see that young Mr Martinson comes down with a bad case of them-"**

Brad burst out into hysterical laughter.

"**Oh my god!" I shrieked. "That's disgusting! You can't put lice in that guy's hair!"**

"I agree" Helen said shuddering.

**Father Dominic looked up from his drawer. **

"**Why ever not? It will serve our purposes exactly. Keep him out of harm's way long enough for you and I to talk some sense into Miss Chambers, and-"**

"**You can't put lice in that guy's hair" I said again, more vehemently than was, perhaps, necessary. **

"Yes because you fancy him" Brad said shaking his head in disgust.

**I don't know why I was so against the idea, except that...well, he had such nice hair, the kind of hair I could picture myself running my fingers through. The thought of bugs crawling around in it turned my stomach. How did that kid's rhyme go?**

_**You gazed into my eyes  
what could I do but linger?  
I ran my hands all through your hair  
and a cootie bit my finger.**_

Everyone laughed at that. "A bit dramatic there" Helen said between giggles.

"**Aw, jeez" I said, sitting down on top of the desk. "Hold the lice, will you? Let me deal with Heather. You say you've been talking to her for how long, now? A week?"**

"**Since the New Year" Father Dominic said. "Yes. That's when she first showed up here. I can see now she's just been waiting for Bryce"**

"**Right. Well, let me take care of it. Maybe she just needs a little does of girl talk"**

"Can Suze even _do _girl talk?" Jake asked raising an eyebrow.

"**I don't know" Father Dominic regarded me a little dubiously. "I really feel that you have a bit of a propensity towards...well, towards the physical. The role of a mediator is supposed to be a non-violent one, Susannah. You are supposed to be someone who **_**helps **_**troubled spirits, no **_**hurts **_**them"**

"I don't think Suze even knows the difference"

"**Hello? Were you out there just now? You think I was just supposed to stand there and **_**talk**_** that beam into not crushing that guy's skull?"**

"**Of course not. I'm just saying that if you tried a little compassion-"**

"Ooh that won't go down with Suze" David said. "Especially since she can be a very compassionate person when she puts her mind to it"

"I don't believe it" Brad said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

"**Hey. I have plenty of compassion, Father. My heart bleeds for this girl, it really does. But this is **_**my **_**school. Got it? Mine. Not hers, not any more. She made her decision, and now she's got to stick with it. And I'm not letting her take Bryce – or anyone else – down with her"**

"**Well" Father Dominic looked sceptical. "Well if you're sure..."**

"**Oh, I'm sure" I hopped off his desk. "Just leave it to me, all right?"**

"No, don't, the world will end!"

**Father Dominic said, "all right" but he said it kind of faintly, I noticed. I had to get him to write me a hall pass so I could get back to class without getting busted by one of the nuns. I was waiting for one of them – a pinch-faced novice – to finish scrutinizing this pass before she let me go on down the corridor when a side door marked NURSE opened, and out stepped Bryce with a hall pass of his own. **

"**Hey" I couldn't help blurting out. "What happened? Did she – I mean, did something else happen? Are you hurt?"**

"Close call. Good thing he's an idiot and won't notice. I have to say I notice her slipups too many times and it gets a bit annoying" Jake grumbled.

**He grinned a bit sheepishly. "No, well, unless you count this wicked splinter I got under my thumbnail. I was trying to brush all those little pieces of wood off my pants, you know, and one of them got under there and-" he held up his right hand. A large bandage had been wrapped round his thumb. **

Jake rolled his eyes. "Baby"

"**Yikes" I said. **

"**I know" he looked mournful. "She used Mercurochrome too. I **_**hate **_**that stuff"**

"**Man" I said. "You have had a rotten day"**

"**Not really" he said, putting his thumb down. "At least, not as bad as it would have been if you hadn't been here. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead" he noticed that I'd come through the door marked PRINCIPAL and asked. "Did you get in trouble or something?"**

"**No" I said. "Father Dominic just wanted me to fill out some forms. I'm new, you know"**

"**And as a new student," the novice said severely, "you ought to be made aware that loitering in the halls is not allowed. Both of you had better get to your classes"**

"That's very nice of him" Helen said brightly.

"Yeah, just remember Mom that it didn't work out between these two" Jake said quickly nipping his stepmother's hopes for Suze's love life in the bud before they got hurt later on.

"It's still very gentlemanly" Helen said defensively.

**I apologized and took back my pass. Bryce very chivalrously offered to show me where my next class was, and the novice went away, seemingly satisfied. As soon as she was out of earshot, Bryce said. "You're Suze, right? Jake told me about you. You're his stepsister from New York"**

"You did?" David said curiously. "What did you say?"

"My new stepsister Suze from New York is moving here. Keep an eye on your wallet she seems to be a gangbanger"

"Jake!" Helen shrieked as Brad laughed. "Brad! It's not funny!"

"**That's me" I said. "And you're Bryce Martinson"**

"**Oh, Jake's mentioned me?"**

"No"

**I almost laughed out loud at the idea of Sleepy mentioning much of anything. I said. "No it wasn't Jake"**

**He said. "Oh" in such a sad voice that I almost felt sorry for him. "I guess people must be talking about me, huh?"**

"**A little" I took the plunge. "I'm sorry about what happened with your girlfriend"**

"**So am I, believe me" if he was mad that I'd brought the subject up, you couldn't tell. "I didn't even want to come back here after...you know. I tried to transfer to RLS but they're full. Even the public school didn't want me. It's tough to transfer with only one semester to go. I wouldn't have come back at all except that...well, you know. Colleges generally want you to have graduated from high school before they let you in"**

**I laughed. "I've heard that"**

"That wasn't funny"

"**Anyway" Bryce noticed I was holding, my coat – I'd been dragging it around all day since I couldn't use my locker, the door having been dented permanently shut when I'd knocked Heather into it – and said, "want me to carry that for you?"**

"Such a gentleman!" Helen swooned slightly.

**I was so shocked by this civility that without even thinking, I said, "sure" and passed it over to him. He folded it over one arm, and said. "So I guess everybody must be blaming me for what happened. To Heather, I mean"**

"No"

"**I don't think so" I said. "If anything people are blaming Heather for what happened to Heather"**

"**Yeah" Bryce said, "but I mean, I drove her to it you know? That's the thing if I just hadn't broken up with her-"**

Jake rolled his eyes. "Not this again" he muttered. "I heard this over and over again on the phone for days on end"

"**You have a pretty high opinion of yourself, don't you?"**

**He looked taken aback. "What?"**

"**Well your assumption that she killed herself because you broke p with her. I don't think that's why she killed herself at all. She killed herself because she was sick. You had nothing to do with making her that way. Your breaking up with her may have acted as a sort of catalyst for her final breakdown, but it could just have easily been some other crisis in her life – her parents getting divorced, her not making the cheerleader squad, her cat dying. Anything. So try not to be so hard on yourself"**

"It's a very good point" Helen said thoughtfully. "This Heather probably was depressed with all the expectations pushed on her by her parents"

**We were at the door to my classroom – geometry, I think it was, with Sister Mary Catherine. I turned to him and took my coat back. "Well this is my stop. Thanks for the lift"**

**He held on to one sleeve of my coat. "Hey" he said, looking down at me. It was hard to see his eyes – it was pretty dark beneath the breezeway, shadowed as it was from the sun. But I remembered from when we'd fallen down together that his eyes were blue. A really nice blue. "Hey, listen" he said. "Let me take you out tonight. To thank you for saving my life and everything"**

Helen squealed. "Say yes Suzie, say yes!"

"**Thanks" I said giving my coat a tug. "But I already have plans" I didn't add that my plans involved him in a most intimate manner. **

"Ew!" Brad said shuddering.

"She meant dealing with Heather you dimwit" David said rolling his eyes.

"**Tomorrow night, then" he said, still not relinquishing my coat. **

"**Look" I said. "I'm not allowed to go out on school nights"**

Helen blinked. "Huh? Yes you are! You must go out now, with that boy!"

"Helen" Andy said gently. "She might not want to"

**This was patently untrue. Except for the fact that the police have brought me home a few times, my mother trusted me implicitly. **

"You do, why?" Jake asked confused.

"Because Suzie was always very truthful. I had a feeling she was hiding something important. Now I know what, I don't blame her not telling me and know trusting her was the right thing to do" Helen said smiling fondly.

**If I wanted to go out with a boy on a school night, she'd have let me. **

"Yes I would"

**The thing is, the subject had never really come up, no boy ever having offered to take me out, on a school night or any other for that matter.**

**Not that I'm a dog or anything. I mean, I'm no Cindy Crawford, but I'm not exactly busted, either. I guess the truth of the matter is I was always considered something of a weirdo in my old school. Girls who spend a lot of time talking to themselves and getting in trouble with the police generally are.**

"Yes, generally those types are considered weird" Brad agreed.

**Don't get me wrong. Occasionally new guys would show up at school, and they'd express some interest in me...but only until someone who knew me filled them in. Then they'd avoid me like the plague or something.**

**East Coast boys. What did **_**they**_** know?**

"A lot"

**But now I had a chance to start all over, with a new population of boys who had no idea about my past – well, expect for Sleepy and Dopey, and I doubted they would tell since neither of them are what you'd call...verbal.**

David laughed as his elder brothers looked rather offended.

"I'm smart!" Jake protested. "I'm just tired all the time, that's all"

**Neither of them had evidently gotten to Bryce, anyway since the next words out of his mouth were. "This weekend then. What are you doing Saturday night?"**

**I wasn't sure it was such a good idea to get involved with a guy whose dead girlfriend was trying to kill him. I mean what if she found out and resented me for it? I was sure Father Dominic wouldn't think it was very cool, me going out with Bryce. **

"She would be in for a lecture big time"

**Then again, how often did a girl like me get asked out by a totally hot guy like Bryce Martinson?**

"**Ok" I said. "Saturday it is. Pick me up at seven?"**

Helen squealed excitedly for her daughter.

**He grinned. He had very nice teeth, white and even. "Seven" he said letting go of my coat. "See you then. If not before"**

"**See you then" I stood with my hand on the door to Sister Mary Catherine's geometry class. "Oh, and Bryce"**

**He had started down the breezeway, towards his own classroom. "Yeah?"**

"**Watch your back"**

**I think he winked at me, but it was kind of hard to tell in the shade.**

"And that's that" Jake said passing the book to Brad. "Your turn"


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: For Zebbie_

**When I climbed into the Rambler at the end of the day, Doc was all over me. "Everybody's talking about it!" he cried, bouncing up and down on the seat. "Everybody saw it! You saved that guy's life! You saved Bryce Martinson's life!"**

"A little too enthusiastic there" Brad said to his younger brother, eyebrow raised. "Did you have a crush on her?"

David blushed. "No I didn't!" he snapped. "I happened to admire her strength and bravery while enjoying conversing with her about anything. She was the sibling I never had"

"Oi!" Jake said cottoning on at the implication.

Brad however didn't and merely shrugged before muttering. "Whatever dude"

"**I didn't save his life," I said, calmly twisting the rear view mirror so I could see how my hair looked. Perfect. Salt air definitely agrees with me. **

"**You did so. I saw that big chunk of wood. If that'd landed on his head, it've killed him! You saved him, Suze. You really did"**

"**Well" I rubbed a little gloss into my lips. "Maybe"**

"Very modest for someone so vain" Helen said shaking her head at her daughter's antics. Knowing full well how much her appearance means to Suze.

"**God, you've only been in the Mission one day and already you're the most popular girl in school!"**

"Which is so unfair because I work hard for my rep and I still don't get acknowledge by Kelly Prescott" Brad muttered darkly.

**Doc was completely unable to contain himself. Sometimes I wondered whether Ritalin might have been the answer. **

Jake and Brad laughed while David blushed. "I'm not that bad" he muttered sadly to himself.

**Not that I didn't like the kid. In fact, I liked him best out of all of Andy's boys **

David cheered up and beamed happily.

– **Which I realize, is not saying much, but it's all I've got. It had been Doc who, just the night before, had come to me while I'd been trying to decide what to wear on my first day at school and asked me, his face very pale, if I was sure I didn't want to trade bedrooms with him. **

Everyone blinked. "Why would you do that?" Andy asked his son.

"Well...you see..." David said flushing a faint pink and suddenly finding his lap very interesting. "It's best if you just continued reading" he finished hurriedly.

"I bet he wanted the private bathroom" Brad said confidently.

**I looked at him like he was nuts. Doc had a nice room, and everything, but please. Give up my private bath and sea view? Not even if it meant ridding myself of my unwanted room-mate, Jesse, whom I hadn't actually heard from since I'd told him to get the hell out. **

"**What on earth makes you think I'd want to give up my room?" I asked him.**

**Doc shrugged. "Just that...well, this room's kinda creepy, don't you think?"**

"Well...no" Helen said frowning. "I think it's a lovely room despite the...err...guest..."

"Ma, the room has frills and lace. It's the creepiest thing ever" Brad said shuddering.

Andy flicked his son's ear and ignored Brad's yelp of pain. "Keep reading"

**I stared at him. You should have seen my room just then. With the bedside lamp on, casting a cheerful pink glow over everything, and my CD player belting out Janet Jackson – loud enough that my mother had shouted twice for me to turn it down – creepy was the last thing anyone would have called my room. "Creepy?" I echoed, looking around. No sign of Jesse. No sign of anything at all undead. We were quite firmly in the realm of the living. "What's creepy about it?"**

**Doc pursed his lips. "Don't tell my dad," he said, "but I've been doing a lot of research into this house, and I've come to the conclusion – quite definitive one – that it's haunted"**

Andy looked surprised. "Why don't you want me to know?" he asked, slightly hurt.

"Well Dad...no offense but like Mom....you don't believe in anything that you can't see" David informed his father.

**I blinked at his freckled little face and saw that he was serious. **_**Quite**_** serious, as his next remark proved. **

"**Although modern scientists have, for the most part, debunked the majority of claims of paranormal activity in this country, there is still ample evidence that unexplained spectral phenomena exist in our world. My own personal investigation of this house was unsatisfactory insofar as traditional indications of a spiritual presence, such as the so-called cold spot. But there was nevertheless a very definite fluctuation of temperature in this room, Suze, leading me to believe that it was probably the scene of at least one incidence of great violence – perhaps even a murder – and that some remnant of the victim – call it the soul, if you will – still lurks here, perhaps in the vain hope of gaining justice for his untimely death"**

"My God Dave, how do you breathe?" Jake asked.

**I leaned against one of the posts of my bed-frame. I had to, or I might have fallen down. "Gee," I said, keeping my voice steady with an effort. "Way to make a girl feel welcome"**

Brad snorted and David blushed.

**Doc looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry" he said, the tips of his sticky-out ears turning red. "I shouldn't have said anything. I did mention it to Jake and Brad, and they told me I was nuts. **

"You are" Brad said.

**I probably am" he swallowed, bravely. "But I feel it's my duty, as a man, to offer to trade rooms with you. You see, I'm not afraid"**

"You're so sweet!" Helen gushed hugging David. "I'm so proud of you"

Brad rolled his eyes and continued reading, in a loud voice.

**I smiled at me, my shock forgotten in a sudden rush of affection for him. I was really touched. You could see the offer had taken all the guts the little guy had. He really and truly believed my room was haunted, in spite of everything that science told him, and yet he'd been willing to sacrifice himself for my sake, out of some sort of inborn chivalry. You had to like the little guy. You really did. **

David blushed harder.

"**That's ok, Doc," I said, forgetting myself in a sudden burst of sentimentality and calling him by my own private nickname for him. "I think I can pretty much handle any paranormal phenomena that might occur around here"**

**He didn't seem to mind the new nickname,**

"You liked it?" Brad said disbelievingly.

"Well it suits my personality...just like yours"

"Hey!"

**Though. He said, obviously relieved, "well if you really don't mind-"**

"**No, it's ok. But let me ask you something" I lowered my voice, just in case, Jesse was lurking around somewhere. "In all of your extensive research, did you ever come across the name of this poor slob whose soul is inhabiting my room?"**

**Doc shook his head. "Actually, I'm sure I could get it for you, if you really want it. I can look it up down at the library. They have all the newspapers ever printed in the area since the first press started running, shortly before this house was built. It's on microfiche, but I'm sure if I spend enough time looking-"**

**It seemed kind of wacky to me, some kid spending all his time in a dark library basement looking at microfiche, when a block or two away was this beautiful beach. But hey, to each of his own, right?**

"**Cool" was all I said however. **

**Now I could see that Doc's little crush on me**

"See even Suze thought you had a crush on her" Brad pointed out.

"Well I didn't....isortahadacrushonherfriend"

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Brad teased.

"Brad keep reading or it'll be the corner again" Andy said warningly.

**Was threatening to get blown out of proportion. First I'd willingly volunteered to abide in a room rumoured to be haunted, and then I'd gone and saved Bryce Martinson's life. What was I going to do next? Run a three-minute mile?**

"Nah, more like destroy the school" Brad said. "Or maybe catch a murderer. That's more your style"

"**Look," I said, as Sleepy struggled with the ignition, which apparently had a tendency not to work on the first try. **

"That car really was awful" Andy said shaking his head. "I should have replaced it along time ago before that accident"

"**I just did what any of you would have done if you'd been standing nearby"**

"**Brad **_**was **_**standing nearby" Doc said, "and he didn't do anything"**

"Oh and why was that?" Andy asked his middle son, who flushed slightly.

**Dopey said, "Jesus Christ, I didn't **_**see**_** the stupid beam, ok? If I'd seen it, I'd have pushed him out of the way, too. Christ"**

"**Yeah, but you didn't see it. You were probably too busy looking at Kelly Prescott"**

Jake wolf whistled and Brad glared at his older brother.

**This earned Doc a hard slug on the arm. **

"Brad!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Say it to your brother"

"I'm sorry David"

"Apology accepted"

"**Shuddup, David" Dopey said. "You don't know anything about it"**

"_**All**_** of you shut up" Sleepy said with uncharacteristic grumpiness. "I'll never get this damned car started, if you all don't keep distracting me. Brad, stop hitting David, David stop yelling in my ear, and Suze, if you don't move your big head out of the mirror I'll never be able to see where the hell we're going. Damn, I can't **_**wait **_**till I get that Camaro!"**

Both Helen and Andy sighed. Jake did too but in a more blissful way, happy now that he didn't have to drive his childish siblings to school anymore.

**The phone call came after dinner. My mother had to scream up the stairs at me because I had my head phones on. Even though it was only the first day of the new semester, I had a lot of homework to do, especially in geometry. We'd only been on Chapter Seven back in my old school. The Mission Academy sophomores were already on Chapter Twelve. I knew I was pretty much dead meat if I didn't start trying to catch up. **

**When I came downstairs to pick up the phone, my mom was already mad at me for making her scream – she had to watch her vocal chords for her job and everything – that she wouldn't tell me who it was. I picked up the receiver and went, "hello?"**

"Who was it?" Brad asked.

"Some girlfriend from her class" Helen shrugged.

"Oh yeah, listen to this"

**There was a pause, and then Father Dominic's **

"Father Dominic?! Why is he phoning Suze?"

**Voice came on. "Hello? Susannah? Is that you? Look, I'm sorry to bother you at home, but I've been giving it some thought and I really think – yes, I really do think we need to do something right away. I can't stop thinking about what might have happened to poor Bryce if you hadn't been there"**

**I looked over my shoulder. Dopey was playing Coolboarders - with his dad, the only person in the house who let him win**

"Nuhuh, Dad is actually crap at Coolboarder" Brad said shaking his head.

"Brad...Dad sometimes beats me" Jake said.

"Dad how could you?!" Brad wailed, his ego bruised even more.

– **my mom was working on her computer, Sleepy was out subbing for some pizza deliverer who'd call in sick, and Doc was sitting at the dining room table working on a science project that wasn't due until April. **

"**Uh," I said. "Look. I can't really talk right now"**

"**I realize that" Father Dom said. "And don't worry – I had one of the novices ask for you. **

"And she didn't think that was weird?" Andy said sceptically.

"And you wonder why I thought there was something going on between the good father and darling Suzie?" Brad asked.

**Your mother thinks it's just some new little friend you've made at school. But the thing of it is, Susannah, we've got to do something, and I think it had better be tonight-"**

"**Look" I said. "Don't worry about it. I've got it under control"**

"Um, how?"

**Father Dom sounded surprised. "You do? You **_**do? How? How**_** have you got in it under control?"**

"**Never mind. But I've done this before. Everything will be fine. I promise"**

"Don't believe her, she'll trash the school!"

"**Yes, well, it's all very well to promise everything will be fine, but I've seen you at work, Susannah, and I can't say I've been very impressed with your technique. We've got the archbishop visiting next month, and I can't very well-"**

**The call waiting went off. I said, "Oh, hang on a sec. I've got another call" I hit the hook and went, "Ackerman-Simon residence"**

"**Suze?" a boy's voice, unrecognizable to me. **

"**Yes..."**

"**Oh, hi. It's Bryce. So what's going on?"**

**I looked at my mother. She was scowling into the story she was working on. "Um" I said. "Nothing much. Can you hold on a second, Bryce? I've got someone on the other line"**

"**Sure" Bryce said. **

**I switched back to Father Dominic. "Uh, hi" I said, careful not to say his name. "I gotta go. My mother has a very important caller on the other line. A senator. State senator."**

"Susannah! How dare you lie to a priest?" Helen shrieked.

"How can a priest lie to everyone?" Brad shot back. "The pair of them are gifted liars; it goes against all laws of nature"

**I was probably going to hell for it – if there was such a place – but I couldn't very well tell Father Dominic the truth: that I was dating the ghost's ex-boyfriend. **

"Yeah, I don't think he would have taken it well" Jake agreed.

"**Oh, of course" Father Dominic said. "I – well, if you have a plan"**

"**I do. Don't worry. Nothing will ruin the archbishop's visit. I promise. Bye" I hung up and got back to Bryce. "Uh, hi. Sorry about that. What's up?"**

"**Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about you. What do you want to do on Saturday? I mean, do you want to go to dinner, or to a movie, or both, maybe?"**

**The other line went off. I said, "Bryce, I'm really sorry, it's a zoo here, could you hang on a minute? Thank. Hello?"**

**A girl's voice I'd never heard before said, "Oh, hi, is this Suze?"**

"**Speaking" I said. **

"**Oh, hi, Suzie. It's Kelly. Kelly Prescott, from your homeroom?**

"See, one day and Suze gets a call from THE Kelly Prescott. A lifetime of admiring her and all I get is her barely remembering my name" Brad muttered bitterly.

**Listen, I just wanted to let you know – what you did today for Bryce – that was so righteous. I mean, I have never seen anything so brave. They should totally put you on the news or something. Anyway, I'm having a little get-together at my place this Saturday – nothing much, just a pool party, my folks'll be out of town, and our pool's heated, of course – so I thought, if you wanted, maybe you could stop by"**

**I stood there, holding the phone, totally stunned. Kelly Prescott, the richest, most beautiful girl in the entire sophomore class was inviting me to a pool party on the same night I was going out on a date with the sexiest boy in school. Who happened to be on the other line.**

"Yes it is a very...dramatic change from New York" Helen said, eyes glittering with happiness for her daughter. "I'm so proud of her making such an effort!"

"**Yeah, sure, Kelly" I said. "I'd love to. Does Brad know where it is?"**

"**Brad?" Kelly said. Then, "oh **_**Brad**_**. That's right, he's your half brother**

"I didn't realise Mom and Dad had an affair almost eighteen years ago" Brad said sarcastically. "It's bad enough I have to share a house with her, don't make me share DNA as well"

"Brad" Andy warned.

**Or something, right? Oh, yeah, bring him. Listen-"**

"**I'd love to chat, Kelly, but I got somebody on the other line. Can I talk to you about it tomorrow in school?"**

"**Oh, totally. Bye"**

**I clicked back to Bryce, asked him to hold on another second, put my hand over the mouth piece and yelled, "Brad pool party at Kelly Prescott's this Saturday. Be there or be square"**

**Dopey dropped his joy stick. "No way!" he yelled, joyfully. "No freakin' way!"**

"**Hey!" Andy rapped him on the head. "Watch the language"**

"It wasn't even that bad" Brad sulked.

"Still, I raised you to be polite and gentleman like" Andy said sternly. "I don't know where I went wrong"

**I got back on with Bryce. "Dinner would be great" I said. "Anything but health food"**

**Bryce went. "Great! Yeah, I hate health food, too. There's nothing like a really good piece of meat, you know, with some fries on the side, and some gravy-"**

"**Uh, yeah, right, Bryce. Listen, that's my call waiting again. I'm really sorry, but I have to go, ok? I'll talk to you tomorrow in school"**

"**Oh. Ok" Bryce aid taken aback. I guess I was the first girl who'd ever answered her call waiting when he was on the line. **

"You are" Jake said. "Heather would have spent the whole night talking to him. The poor sod hadn't actually been with any other girl so he wouldn't have known any difference"

"**Bye, Suze. And uh thanks again"**

"**No problem. Anytime" I hit the receiver. "Hello?"**

"**Suze! It's Cee Cee"**

**In the background, I heard Adam yell, "and me too!"**

"**Hey, girlfriend" Cee Cee said, "we're heading down to the Clutch. Want us to pick you up? Adam just got his licence"**

"**I'm legal!" Adam shouted into the phone. **

"**The Clutch?"**

"**Yeah, the Coffee Clutch, downtown. You drink coffee, don't you? I mean, aren't you, like, from New York?"**

"Just because she's from New York doesn't necessarily mean she drinks coffee" Helen sniffed. "I hate stereotyping"

**I had to think about that one. "Uh, yeah. The thing is – I sort of have something I have to do"**

"**Oh come **_**on**_**. What do you have to do? Wash your cape? I mean I know you're a big hero and all of that, and probably don't have time for us little people, but-"**

Andy chuckled lightly while David, Jake and even Brad laughed. Helen smiled fondly, her indignation of the stereotype forgotten.

"**I haven't finished my thousand-word essay on the battle of Bladensburg for Mr Walden" I said. "And I've got a lot of geometry to do if I'm going to catch up to you geniuses"**

"**Oh, gawd" Cee Cee said. "All **_**right**_**. But you have to promise to sit by us at lunch tomorrow. We want to hear all about how you pressed your body up against Bryce's and what it felt like and all that stuff"**

"Urgh, I don't!" Brad said horrified. Jake looked slightly green and David shuddered.

"_**I **_**don't" Adam declared, sounding horrified. **

"**Ok" Cee Cee said. "So**_** I**_** want to hear all about it"**

**I assured her I'd spare no detail and hung up. **

"I hope we get spared all the details though" Jake muttered with a shudder.

**Then I looked down at the phone. To my relief, it did not ring again. I couldn't quite believe it. Never in my life had I been so popular. It was**_** weird**_**. **

**I had lied about my homework of course. The essay was done, and I had worked through two chapters of geometry – about all I could handle in one night. The truth, of course was that I had an errand to run, and I had a bit of preparation to do for it. **

"I don't like the sound of that" Helen said worriedly.

**You don't need a whole lot of tools to do a mediation. I mean, all that stuff about crosses and holy water, I guess you need those things to kill a vampire – and I can tell you right now that I have never in my life met a vampire, and I've spent **_**a lot**_** of time in graveyards – but for ghosts, well, you sort of have to wing it. **

**Sometimes, though, to get the job done right, you have to do a little breaking and entering. **

"Oh no, please not this again. Tell me you didn't break into your own school Susannah Simon!"

"I think she did" David said nervously. "But if it's any consolation, she was doing it for a good cause"

Helen buried her face into her hands and groaned.

**For that you need some tools. I highly recommend just using stuff you find on site because then you don't have a lot to carry. But I do have a tool belt with a flashlight and some screwdrivers and pliers and stuff, **

"She does?"

"I didn't know that"

"Neither did I and I not only lived with her for sixteen years but I helped her unpack!"

**Which I wear over a pair of black leggings. I was fastening this on at around midnight, satisfied that everyone else in the house was asleep – including Sleepy, who was back from his pizza round by then – and had just shrugged into my motorcycle jacket when I got a visit from good old-you-know-who. **

"Jesse"

"The one that Suze's boyfriend has the misfortune of looking like and sharing the same name" Andy said. "Because I don't believe he could be this ghost. It's physically impossible"

"Or the simple explanation is that Suze is a nutter and Jesse is a saint" Brad suggested.

"**Jeez," I said, when I caught a glimpse of his reflection behind mine in the mirror into which I was primping. I swear, I've been seeing ghosts for years, but it still freaks me out every time one of them materializes in front of me. I spun round, angry not so much that he was there, but because he'd managed to catch me so unaware. "Why are you still hanging around? I thought I told you to get lost"**

"Suzie! Be more polite! I raised you better than that!"

**Jesse was leaning very casually against one of the posts to my bed. His dark-eyed gaze roved from the top of my head to the toes of my black high-tops. "It's a little late to be going out, don't you think, Susannah?" he asked conversationally as if we'd been in the middle of a discussion about, oh, I don't know, the second Fugitive Slave Act, which I believe had be enacted at or around the time he'd died. **

"How does she know all of this stuff?" Jake asked.

"She reads?" David suggested with a glare.

"**Uh" I said, pulling the hood back. "Look, no offense, Jesse, but this is my room. How about you try getting out of it? And my business too, please?"**

**Jesse didn't move. "Your mother won't like your going out so late at night"**

"No I won't. In fact I hate it right now!"

"**My mother" I glared at him. Up at him, I should say. He was really disconcertingly tall for someone who was dead. "What would **_**you **_**know about my mother?"**

"**I like your mother very much" Jesse said calmly. "She is a good woman. You are very lucky to have a mother who loves you so very much. It would upset her, I think, to see you putting yourself in the path of danger"**

"Oh" Helen said feeling rather flattered that Jesse had observed her and analysed her character well. "What a lovely young man"

**The path of danger. **

"Don't scoff young lady, he's right!" Helen scolded the book.

**Right! "Yeah, well, news flash, Jesse. I've been sneaking out at night for a long time, and my mom's never said boo about it before. She knows I can take care of myself"**

"That is a lie! I'm always lecturing her but she never listens and I'm always worrying and fretting what awful thing might happen to her" Andy put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it tightly.

"Don't worry sweetie, I'm sure she's purposely lying to him. Just to get him off her back"

**Ok, a lie, but hey, how was he supposed to know?**

"**Can you?" Jesse lifted a black eyebrow dubiously. I couldn't help noticing that there was a raised scar sliced through the middle of that eyebrow, **

Silence.

"Oh shit" Brad said finally.

Andy didn't even bother chiding his middle son for his language, he just blinked and shook his head.

"There is no way...impossible for the ghost to be an exact duplicate...which means...." Helen gasped. "My daughter...my little girl...."

"Holy shit...she can bring people back to life" Brad said alarmed. "This is....fate had screwed up. God must be mental.....bloody hell!"

They family sat in silence once more.

"Jesse...has been living in Suze's room...probably for a long time before Suze brought him back to life" Jake said firmly. "This means he probably saw her changing! I'll kill him!"

"I'll help" Andy muttered darkly.

"No you won't!" Helen snapped. "Jesse has always been an honourable young man and I am sure he had never seen our Suzie naked. You leave him and Suze alone, they're ever so happy! Oh dear...how....Brad please continue reading"

**Like someone had taken a swipe at Jesse's face once with a knife. I sort of understood the feeling. Especially when he let out a chuckle, and said, "I don't think so, **_**querida. **_

"He's mental!" Brad shouted. "There's no way Suze is a darling in any shape or form"

"Did you know" David said. "That querida is an noun for a kept woman. A mistress"

"I'll kill him" Jake said firmly.

Brad howled with laughter. "Suze? A kept woman? Not even on a cold day in hell"

"**Not in this case"**

**I held up both my hands. "Ok. Number one, don't call me stuff in Spanish. Number two, you don't even know where I'm going, so I suggest you just get off my back"**

"**But I do know where you're going, Susannah. You are going down to the school to talk to the girl who is trying to kill that boy, that boy you seem...fond of. **

"Ooh, is he jealous already?" Helen asked eagerly.

Andy rolled his eyes. "Probably not just yet dear" he said calmly.

**But I'm telling you, **_**querida**_**, she is too much for you to handle alone. If you must go, you ought to have the priest with you"**

"Yes you should" Andy and Helen agreed immediately.

"Hang on....how does he know about Father Dominic?" Jake asked suspiciously. "Has he been stalking Suze?"

**I stared at him. I had a feeling my eyes were probably bugging out, but I really couldn't believe it. "What?" I spluttered. "How could you know all that? Are you...are you **_**stalking**_** me?"**

**He must have realized from my expression that he's said the wrong thing, since he straightened up and said, "I don't know what that word means, **_**stalking**_**. All I know is that you are walking into harm's way"**

"Nice cover-up but I bet he does know what stalking is" Brad said smirking slightly.

"**You've been following me" I said stabbing a finger at him accusingly. "Haven't you? God, Jesse, I already have an older brother, thank you very much. I don't need you going around spying-"**

"**Oh yes" Jesse said, very sarcastically. "This brother cares for you very much. Almost as much as he cares about his sleep"**

"Oi! I care about Suze a lot! The idiot needs someone to catch her all the time, she's constantly getting into trouble" Jake snapped.

"**Hey!" I said, coming against all odds, to Sleepy's defence.**

"Thank you Suze" Jake said half sarcastically and half grateful.

"**He works nights, ok? He's saving up for a Camaro!"**

**Jesse made what I'm quite sure was a rude gesture – back in 1850. "You," he said, "aren't going anywhere"**

"**Oh, yeah?" I turned heel and stormed towards the door. "Try and stop me, cadaver breath"**

"Ok I bite, what's cadaver breath?" Brad asked David.

"Corpse" David translated.

Brad roared with laughter, Jake chuckled and Andy snorted while Helen looked horrified that her daughter would be so rude to such a gentleman.

**He did a good job. My hands was on the doorknob when the deadbolt slid into place. I hadn't realized there was a deadbolt on my door **

"Neither did I" Andy said surprised.

– **It must have been an ancient one. The handle to it was gone, and God only knew the key must have long since been lost. **

**I stood here for half a minute, staring down at my hand in wonder as it pulled futilely on the knob. Then I took a deep cleansing breath, the way my mom's therapist had suggested. She hadn't meant I should do this when dealing with a stalker ghost. She just meant to do it in general, whenever I was feeling stressed. **

"It's good to know that Suzie listens to our therapist" Helen said sighing with relief. "It means she's trying to solve her problems"

**But it helped. It helped a lot. **

"**Ok" I said turning around. "Jesse. This us way uncool"**

**Jesse looked pretty uncomfortable. I could tell as soon as I looked at him that he wasn't very happy with what he'd done. Whatever he had gotten him killed in his previous life, it wasn't because he was innately cruel, or enjoyed hurting people. He was a good guy. Or at least he was trying to be. **

"Yeah, he could try to be less perverted" Jake muttered.

"**I can't" he said in front of Susannah. "Susannah. Don't go. This woman – this girl, Heather. She isn't like other spirits you might have known in the past. She's filled with hate. She'll kill you if she can"**

**I smiled at him encouragingly. "Then it's up to me to get rid of her, right? Come on. Unlock the door now"**

**He hesitated. For a second, I thought he was going to do it. But he didn't, in the end. He just stood there looking uncomfortable...but firm. **

"Tough luck man" Brad said sympathetically, knowing how nasty Suze could get.

"**Suit yourself" I said, and walked around him, straight across the room to the bay window. I put a foot on to the seat Andy had made, and easily lifted the screen in the middle window. **

Andy groaned. "I shouldn't have made that seat" he muttered.

"What was I thinking? I should have given her a different room, make it harder for her to sneak out!" Helen mumbled furiously.

**I had one leg over the sill when I felt his hand go round my wrist. **

**I turned to look at him. I couldn't see his face since the light from my bedside lamp was behind him, but I could hear his voice well enough and the soft pleading in it. **

"**Susannah" he said. **

**And that was all. Just my name. **

**I didn't say anything. I couldn't, sort of. I mean I could – it wasn't like there was a lump in my throat or anything I just...i don't know.**

"She's attracted to him already!" Helen squealed slightly, her romantic side kicking in once more.

"Mom, that's not a good thing since he's still living in her room as a ghost" Jake pointed out.

**Instead I looked down at his hand, which was really big and kind of brown, even against the black leather of my jacket. He had a heck of a grip for a dead guy. Even for a live guy. He saw my gaze drop, and looked where I was looking and saw his hand holding tight round my wrist. **

**He let go of me as if my skin had suddenly started to blister or something. **

"Shocked, attracted to her too, his skin was burning at her touch" Helen translated in her 'lovey dovey' terms.

"Dear God help us" Brad muttered to the ceiling.

**I finished climbing out of the window. When I had successfully manoeuvred my way across the porch roof and down to the ground, I turned to look up at my bedroom window.**

**But he was gone of course. **

"And that's it" Brad said shoving the book to David. "Your turn now"


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note: Annie's Xmas Pressie _

**It was a cool, clear night. The moon was full. Standing in my front yard, I could see it hanging over the sea like a light bulb – not a hundred watter, like the sun, but maybe one of those twenty-five dealies you put in those swivel neck desk lamps. **

Brad yawned. "Hurry up and get to the good bit. I don't wanna hear about how pretty everything looks"

David glared at his older brother. "I might be able to get to the good bit if someone didn't keep interrupting"

"Yes Brad, stop it" Andy said sternly.

**The Pacific, looking smooth as glass from this distance, was black, except for a narrow band of reflected lift from the moon, which was white as paper.**

**I could see in the moonlight the red dome of the Mission's church. But just because I could see the Mission, didn't mean the Mission was nearby. It was a good two miles away. In my pocket were keys to the Rambler, **

"What?!" Helen yelped. "Suzie you have no licence! Don't you dare drive without one Missy, or so help me I shall ground you for the rest of your life!"

"I knew it" Jake muttered.

"What was that Jake?" Andy said frowning. "If you knew that Suze had been driving without a licence I would have to fine you like the law normally would and of course the $500 would go to charity"

Jake paled slightly. "I know nothing Dad" he said innocently.

**Which I'd snitched a half hour earlier. The metal was warm from the heat of my body. The Rambler, which was turquoise in the day-light, looked grey as it sat in the shadow of the driveway. **

**Hey, I **_**know**_** I don't have a licence. But if Dopey can do it...**

"Hey!"

**Ok. So I chickened out. **

Helen and Jake sighed in relief.

**Look, isn't it better I chose not to drive? I mean, not knowing how and all. Not that I don't know how. Of course I know how to drive.**

"Yeah right" Brad snorted. "You're just a chicken"

**I just haven't had a whole lot of practise, having lived all my life in the public transportation capital of the world...**

**Oh, never mind. I turned around, and started heading for the garage. There had to be a bike around somewhere. Three boys, right? There had to be at least one bike.**

"I haven't had one in yonks" Brad said with a shrug. "The only bike we have is David's and that's a hand me down"

**I found one. It was a boy's bike, of course, with that stupid bar, and a**_** really**_** hard, really skinny seat. But it seemed to work all right. At least the tyres weren't flat. **

"Of course not, I take good care of my transportation" David said calmly. "Although that seat really does hurt"

"We'll look into getting you a new one for Christmas" Andy promised instantly.

"Dad!" Brad wailed childishly. "That's unfair!"

**Then I thought, ok, girl dressed in black, riding a bike on the streets after midnight, what do I need?**

"Spray paint?" Jake suggested.

"I think she meant in safety wise" Helen said flatly.

**I didn't think I was going to find any reflective tape, but I thought maybe a bike helmet might do the trick. There was one hanging on a peg on the side of the garage. I put down the hood of my sweatshirt, and fastened the thing on. Oh yeah. Stylish and safety conscious, that's me. **

"Thank God she is though" Helen muttered.

**And then I was off, rolling down the driveway – ok, gravel is not the easiest stuff to ride a bike on, especially going downhill. And the whole way turned out to be downhill since the house, looking out over the bay was perched on the side of this moutainy kind of thing. Going downhill was certainly better than going uphill – there was no way I was going to be able to ride back up this thing; I had a pretty good idea I'd be doing some pushing on my way home – but going downhill was pretty harrowing. I mean the hill was so steep, the way was so twisty and the night air was so cold, that I rode with my heart in my throat practically the whole time, tears streaming down the sides of my cheeks because of the wind. And those portholes- **

**God! Did that stupid seat hurt when I hit a porthole. **

"A new bike for you and Suze" Andy promised.

"Dad! Suze doesn't need a bike, she can drive now!"

"Quit whining Brad, you sound jealous" Jake said rolling his eyes. "It's just a bike, not like Dad is buying Suze a Ferrari or something"

**But the hill wasn't the worst of it. When I got down the hill I hit an intersection. This was much scarier than the hill because even though it was after midnight, there were cars there. One of them honked at me. **

Helen grabbed on to Andy. "How could she? How could she put herself at such a risk at so late at night? What if she got run over? She wouldn't have any ID on her, she only has a helmet on, my baby could be in hospital for days and I wouldn't know!"

"She'll be fine, don't worry honey" Andy said soothingly as he patted Helen's back. "We know Suze is fine, we see her everyday and she has a car now so the risk has lowered a bit"

**But it wasn't my fault. I was going so fast, because of that hill and all, that if I'd stopped I'd probably have gone right over the handlebars. So I kept on going, narrowly avoiding getting hit by a pickup, **

Helen let out a violent shudder as she huddled closer to Andy.

**And then I don't know how, I was pulling into the school parking lot. **

**The Mission looked a lot different at night than it did during the day.**

"Really?" Brad said sarcastically.

**For one thing, during the day the parking lot was always full, packed with cars belonging to teachers, students, and tourists visiting the church. The lot was empty now,**

"I would have never guess there were no cars at night"

"Brad, can the sarcasm or its back in the corner"

"Yes Dad"

**Not a single car, and so quiet that you could hear, way off in the distance, the sound of waves hitting Carmel Beach. **

**The other thing was that, for tourists reasons, I guess, they had set up these spotlights to shine on certain parts of the building, like the dome – it was all light up – and the front of the church, with it's huge arched entranceway. **

"It looks beautiful all lit up" Helen said smiling slightly at the memory. "Very romantic"

**The back of the building, where I pulled up, was pretty dark. Which suited me fine actually. I hid the bike behind a dumpster, leaving the helmet dangling from one of the handles, and went up to a window. The Mission was built like a bizillion years ago, back when they didn't have air conditioning or central heating, so to keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter, people built their houses really thick. **

"Seriously how does she know all this stuff?"

"She reads" David replied flatly. "Now quit interrupting so I can read"

**That meant that all the windows in the Mission were set back about a foot into the adobe, with another foot sticking out into the room behind them. **

**I climbed up on to one of these built-in window seats, looking around first to make sure no one saw me. But there wasn't anybody around except a couple of raccoons who were rooting around the dumpster for some of the lunch leftovers.**

"Yum"

**Then I cupped my hands over my face, to cut out the light of the moon, and peered inside. **

**It was Mr Walden's classroom. With the moonlight flooding into it, I could see his handwriting on the chalkboard and the big poster of Bob Dylan, his favourite poet, on the wall. **

"Huh? I thought he was a hippy"

"Oh Brad" Jake shook his head. "And you wonder why Suze calls you Dopey"

**It only took me a second later to punch out the glass in one of the old fashioned iron panes, reach in and unlatch the window. The hard part about breaking a window isn't the breaking part, or even the reaching in part. It's getting your hand out again that always causes cuts. **

"And how do you know this young lady?" Helen asked the book, she sighed. "I should have known from those times when her wrists were covered in band aids"

**I had on my best ghost-busting gloves, thick black ones with rubbery stuff on the knuckles, but I've had my sleeve get caught before, and gotten my arm scratched up. **

**That didn't happen this time. Plus the window opened out, instead of up, swing forwards just enough to let a girl like me inside. Occasionally, I've broken in to places that turned out to have alarms – resulting in an uncomfortable ride for me in the back of a car belonging to one of New York's finest **

"And uncomfortable conversations with the nice officers, my therapist, Suzie's grandmother, Suze, her teachers...it was endless"

– **But the Mission hadn't gotten that high-tech with their security system yet. In fact, their security system seemed to consist of locking the doors and windows, and hoping for the best. **

"Very crap but they can't afford anything better" Brad said shaking his head.

Andy looked very thoughtful. "I think I shall donate some money for a security system..."

**Which certainly suited me fine.**

"I shall definitely have to donate some money for a security system"

**Once I was inside Mr Walden's room, I closed the window behind me. No sense alerting anybody who might happen to be manning the perimeter – as if. It was easy to manoeuvre between the desks, since the moon was so bright. And once I got the door open and stepped out into the breezeway, I found I didn't need my flashlight, either. The courtyard was flooded with light. I guess the Mission must stay open pretty late for the tourists because there were these big yellow floodlights hidden in the breezeway's eaves, and pointed at various objects of interest: the tallest of palm trees, the one with the biggest hibiscus bush at its base; the fountain, which was on even though the place was closed; and of course the statue of Father Serra, with one light shining on his bronze head and another on the heads of the native American women at his feet. **

Brad yawned louder. "I hate girly descriptive stuff" he complained.

**Geesh. It was a good thing Father Serra was good and dead. I had a feeling that statue would have completely embarrassed him. **

"Most likely" David agreed.

**The breezeway was empty, as was the courtyard. No one was around. All I could hear was the gentle splash of the water in the fountain and the chirping of crickets hidden in the garden. It was sort of restful place, actually, which was surprising. I mean none of my other schools had ever struck me as restful. At least, this one did, until this hard voice behind me went, "what are **_**you**_** doing here?"**

"Dum, Dum, Duuuuuuuuuuuum. Return of Chuckie...I'm sorry I mean Heather"

**I spun around, and there she was. Just leaning up against her locker – excuse me, my locker – and glaring at me, her arms folded across her chest. She was wearing a pair of charcoal slacks – nice ones – and a grey cashmere sweater set. She had an add-a-pearl necklace round her neck, ne pearl for every Christmas and birthday she'd been alive, given to her, no doubt, by a set of doting grandparents. **

"Spoilt brat" Jake muttered.

**On her feet were a pair of shiny black loafers. Her hair, as shiny as her shoes in the yellow light from the floodlamps, looked smooth and golden. She really was a beautiful girl. **

"Too bad she had blown her head off" Brad muttered.

**Too bad she had blown her head off. **

Brad looked horrified that he said something similar to Suze while his brothers laughed at him.

"**Heather" I said, pushing the hood of my sweatshirt down. "Hi. I'm sorry to bother you-" it always helps at least to start out polite. "- but I really think we need to talk, you and I"**

"She's not going to like that"

**Heather didn't move. Well, that's not true. Her eyes narrowed. They were pale eyes, grey, I think, though it was hard to tell, in spite of the floodlamps. The long eyelashes – dark with mascara – were tastefully ringed in charcoal liner. **

"See?"

"**Talk?" Heather echoed. "Oh, yeah. Like I really want to talk to **_**you**_**. I know about you, **_**Suzie**_**"**

The boys cringed. "Well she's doomed"

"Yep"

"Oh totally"

**I winced. I couldn't help it. "It's Suze" I said. **

"**Whatever. I know what you're doing here"**

"**Well, good" I said. "Then I don't have to explain. You want to go sit down, so we can talk"**

"**Talk? Why would I want to talk to **_**you**_**? What do you think I am, stupid? God, you think you're so sly. You think you can just move right in, don't you?"**

"For god sake it's not all about you!" Jake shouted at the book. "You insane, selfish, bratty little cow!" Everyone looked rather stunned. Jake smiled sheepishly and ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair. "She was really nasty towards me, anyone else apart from Bryce and she had the nerve to flirt with me when she wanted me to date her best friend"

**I blinked at her. "I beg your pardon"**

"**Into my place" she straightened, and stepped away from the locker, and walked towards the courtyard as if she were admiring the fountain. "You" she said, tossing me a look over her shoulder. "The new girl. The new girl who thinks she can just slip right into the place I left behind. You've already got my locker. You're on your way to stealing my best friend. I know Kelly called you and asked you to her stupid party. And now you think you can steal my boyfriend"**

Jake looked like he was going to rip something, he made some strangled noises in his throat and decided to glare outside the window instead.

"I hope Suze kicks her arse" Brad said firmly. "Because anyone you can make Jake this upset must be nasty"

**I put my hands on my hips. "He's not your boyfriend, Heather, remember? He broke up with you. That's why you're dead. You blew your brains out in front of his mother"**

"Oh Suzie, try some tact" Helen sighed.

**Heather's eyes widened. "Shut up" she said. **

"**You blew your brains out in front of his mother because you were too stupid to realize that no boy – not even Bryce Martinson – is worth dying for" I strolled past her, out on to one of the gravel pathways between the garden beds. I didn't want to admit it, not even to myself, but it was making me a little nervous, standing under the breezeway after what had happened to Bryce. **

"Don't blame you" everyone muttered.

"**Boy, you must have been mad when you realized what you'd done. Killed yourself. And over something so stupid. Because of a guy"**

"**Shut up!" this time she didn't just say it. She screamed it, so loud that she had to ball her hands up into fists at her sides, close her eyes, and haunch up her shoulders to do it. The scream was so loud, my ears were ringing afterwards. **

"Urgh" Brad groaned. "I'm having flashbacks of second grade"

**But no once came running from the rectory, where I saw a few lights on. The mourning doves that I'd heard cooing in the eaves of the breezeway hadn't uttered a peep since Heather had shown up and the crickets had cut short their midnight serenade. **

**People can't hear ghosts – well most people anyway – but the same can't be said for animals and even insects. They are hyper alert to the presence of the paranormal. Max, the Ackermans' dog, won't go near my room thanks to Jesse. **

"My point earlier proven" David said smugly.

"Oh shut up and carry on reading"

There was silence.

"David" Andy said gently. "Are you going to continue reading?"

"I am, I was told to shut up by Bradley" David said sweetly causing Brad to glare.

"**It's no use your screaming like that" I said. "No one but me can hear it"**

"**I'll scream all I want" she shrieked. And then she proceeded to do so. **

Brad shuddered and pulled faces while Jake rolled his eyes.

**Yawning I went and sat down on one of the wooden benches by Father Serra's statue. There was a plaque, I noticed, at the statue's base. I could read it easily with the help of the floodlamps and the moon. **

"See, that's the way to go, act unbothered and uninterested" David said impressed.

"Whatever"

_**The Venerable Father Junipero Serra, **_**the plaque read, **_**1713-1784. His righteous ways and self-abnegation were a lesson to all who knew him and received his teachings.**_

"What's self-abnegation?" Brad asked.

"The setting aside of self-interest for the sake of others or for a belief or principle" David said immediately.

**Huh. I was going to have to look up self-abnegation in the dictionary when I got home. I wondered if it was the same as self-flagellation, **

"What's se-"

"The act of severely criticizing oneself or the act of punishing oneself" David interrupted Brad's question immediately.

**Something for which Serra had also been known. **

"**Are you listening to me?" Heather screamed. **

**I looked at her. "Do you know what the word **_**abnegation**_** means?" I asked. **

Jake laughed. "Heather won't like that"

**She stopped screaming and just stared at me. Then she strode forwards, her face a mask of livid rage.**

"**Listen to me, you bitch" she said, stopping when she stood a foot away from me. "I want you gone, do you understand? I want you out of this school. That is **_**my**_** locker. Kelly Prescott is**_** my**_** best friend. And Bryce Martinson is**_** my**_** boyfriend! You get out, you go back to where you came from. Everything was just fine before you got here-"**

"Oh for Pete sake!" Helen choked out. "This girl is awful! Such a selfish and self-absorbed child. How could she be so selfish after what she put her family, friends and Bryce through? She's nothing but a spoilt brat!"

"Here, Here" Jake agreed.

**I had to interrupt. "I'm sorry, Heather, but everything was **_**not **_**just fine before I got here. You know how I know that? Because you're dead. Ok? **_**You are dead**_**. Dead people don't have lockers, or best friends, or boyfriends. You know why? Because they're dead"**

"Go Suze! You tell that bitch!"

"Brad, language!"

"Sorry Dad"

**Heather looked as if she was about to start screaming again, but I headed her off at the pass. I said, smoothly and evenly, "now I know you made a mistake. You made a horrible, terrible mistake-"**

"**I'm not the one who made the mistake" Heather said, flatly. "Bryce made the mistake. **

"Yes, he did" Jake agreed. "He said yes to you"

**Bryce is the one who broke up with me"**

**I said, "Yeah, well, that wasn't the mistake I was talking about. I was talking about you shooting yourself because a stupid boy broke up with-"**

"**If you think he's so stupid" Heather said with a sneer, "why are you going out with him on Saturday? That's right I heard him ask you out. The rat. He probably wasn't faithful a day the whole time were going out"**

Jake spluttered. "He wasn't! He was faithful and honest, if you ask me she was the one that was unfaithful!"

"**Oh" I said. "Well that's just great. All the more reason for you to kill yourself over him"**

**There were tears, sparkling like those rhinestones you buy and glue to your fingernails, gathered beneath her lashes. "I loved him" she breathed. "If I couldn't have him, I didn't want to live"**

"Oh bother" Brad muttered.

"**And now that you're dead" I said, tiredly, "You figure he ought to join you right?"**

"**I don't like it here" she said, softly. "No one can see me. Just you and F-Father Dominic. I get so lonely..."**

"My heart bleeds for you" Jake said sarcastically.

"Now, now Jake be a little more sympathetic" Andy said sternly.

"**Right. That's understandable. But Heather, even if you do manage to kill him, he probably isn't going to like you for it much"**

"**I can make him like me" Heather said confidently. "After all, it'll just be me and him. He'll have to like me"**

"As if that would work. He would hate her forever for killing him" Jake said rolling his eyes.

**I shook my head. "No, Heather. It doesn't work that way"**

**She stared at me. "What do you mean?"**

"**If you kill Bryce, there's no guarantee he'll end up here with you. What happens to people after they die – well, I'm not sure, but I think it's different for everyone. If you kill Bryce, he'll go to wherever he's supposed to go. Heaven, hell, his next life – I don't know for sure. But I do know he won't end up here with you. It doesn't work that way"**

"Ha!"

"**But-" Heather looked furious. "But that isn't fair!"**

"Life isn't fair and neither is death apparently"

"**Lots of things aren't fair, Heather. It isn't fair for example that you have to suffer for all eternity for a mistake that you made in the heat of the moment. I'm sure if you'd known what it was like to be dead, you never would have killed yourself. But, Heather, it doesn't have to be this way"**

**She stared down at me. The tears were frozen there, like little tiny shards of ice. "It doesn't?"**

"**No it doesn't"**

"**You mean...you mean I can go back?"**

**I nodded. "You can. You can start over"**

**She sniffled. "How?"**

**I said, "All you have to do is make up your mind to do it"**

**A scowl passed over her pretty face. "But I already made up my mind that that's what I want. All I've wanted since it...since it happened...was to get my life back"**

"Uh-oh...sounds like she misunderstood Suze"

Andy shook his head "this could only end in tears" he said.

"Well it began in tears" David pointed out cheerfully.

**I shook my head. "No, Heather" I said. "You misunderstand me. You can never have your life – your **_**old**_** life – back. But you can start a new one. that's got to better than this, than being here all by yourself forever, storming around than this, than being here all by yourself, storming around in a rage, hurting people-"**

**She shouted, "You said I could get my life back!"**

"Ah shit, she lost it"

"Brad!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry but this is a swearing moment"

"There is no such thing as a swearing moment"

**I realized, all in a flash, that I'd lost her. "I didn't mean your old life. I just meant a life-"**

**But it was too late. She was freaking.**

**I understood now why Bryce's parents had sent him to Antigua. I wished I were there – anywhere, really, if it would get me out of the way of this girl's wrath. **

"Trust me sweetie, I want you far away from that girl as well" Helen said worryingly. "I hate to think what she can do considering that breezeway incident"

"**You told me," Heather screamed, "you told me I could get my life back! You lied to me!"**

"**Heather, I didn't lie. I just meant that your life – well your life is over. Heather, you ended it yourself. I know that sucks, but hey, you should have thought of that-"**

**She cut me off with an unearthly – well of course – wail. "I won't let you" she shrieked. "I won't let you take over my life!"**

"She's got her own life! Get over yourself!" Jake shouted at the book.

"**Heather I told you, I'm not trying to. I have my own life. I don't need yours-"**

**With the crickets and the birds' silent, the sound of the water burbling in the fountain a few yards away had been the only noise in the courtyard – with the exception of Heather's screaming, that is. But the water sounded strange, suddenly. It was making a funny popping noise. I looked towards it, and saw that steam was rising from the surface. I wouldn't have thought it was so strange – it was cold out, and the water temperature might have been warmer than the air around it – if I hadn't seen a great big bubble burst suddenly on the water's surface. **

"Holy shit" Andy swore much to everyone's shock.

"Dad..."

"I'm a parent, I'm allowed to swear" Andy said immediately glaring at his middle son. "Besides, this is definitely something you would swear over in horror"

**That's when it hit me. She was making the water boil. She was making the water boil with the force of her rage. **

Helen groaned and buried her face into her hands. "No, no, no, oh Suzie, why put yourself through this?"

"**Heather," I said, from my bench. "Heather, listen to me. You've got to calm down. We can't talk when you're-"**

"**You...said..." Heather's eyes, I was alarmed to see had rolled back into her head. "I...could...start...over!"**

Everyone shuddered.

**Ok. It was tome to do something. I didn't need the bench beneath me to start shaking so violently that I was nearly thrown from it. I knew it was time to get up. **

"Get out of there! Get out of there as fast as you can Susannah Simon and call the police or something!" Helen shrieked.

**I did so, fast. Fast so that I wouldn't get hit by the bench. Fast so I could reach Heather before she noticed, and deck her so hard as I could with a right beneath the chin. **

**Only to my astonishment, she didn't even seem to feel it. She was too far gone.**

"No, Nooooooooo it's getting worse each second" Andy held Helen who was now burying her head into his chest. "My baby, my poor baby girl"

**Way too far gone. Hitting her had no effect whatsoever – except that it really hurt my knuckles. And of course, it seemed to make her even madder, always a plus when dealing with a severely disturbed individual. **

"**You" Heather said, in a deep voice that was nothing like her normal cheerleader chirp, **

The three brothers shuddered again, Brad edged closer to Jake and David hunched over as an attempt to get some warmth.

"**Are going to be sorry now"**

**The water in the fountain suddenly reached boiling point. Giant waves of it began sloshing over the side of the basin. The jets, which normally bubbled a mere four feet into the air, suddenly shot up to ten, twenty feet, cascading back down into bubbling, steaming cauldron. The birds in the treetops took off as one, their wings momentarily blocking out the light from the moon.**

**I had a funny feeling Heather was serious. What's more, I had a feeling she could do it, too. Without even lifting a finger. **

**And I had confirmation of that fact when suddenly Junipero Serra's head was whipped from his statue's body.**

"HOLY SHIT THAT WAS HEATHER?!" Brad shouted. "I thought it might have been Suze or some vandals that happened to walk in or something. Didn't expect the selfish brat to have the guts"

"Dude" Jake said. "Not only did you burst an eardrum, you're an idiot"

Helen groaned louder and clung tighter to Andy. "My daughter is fighting a psycho version of Wonder Woman who has a bronze head to batter her with. Someone has to save her! Please God, let Father Dominic come or Suzie's father or even Jesse, just _someone_ please save my daughter!"

**That's right. It just snapped off as easily as if the solid bronze was made out of was actually spun candy. Noiselessly, too, she broke it off. The head hung in the air for a moment, its look of sympathetic compassion transformed into a demonic sneer. **

Everyone shuddered, Brad had now grabbed hold of Jake's arm and David had shuffled to the point he was curled onto his parent's feet.

"She won't die" he said in a shaky voice. "She's here with us now, she survived this, we know she did"

**Then, as I stood there, transfixed, staring at the way the floodlights winked against the metal ball, I saw it dip suddenly...**

**Then plunge towards me, hurtling so fast it was only a blue in the night sky, like a come, or a-**

Helen let out a muffled scream.

"Get out the way, you idiot!" Brad shouted.

**I didn't get a chance to think what else it reminded me of because a split second later something heavy hit me in the stomach and sent me sprawling to the dirt, where I lay, looking up at the starry sky. It was so pretty. The night was so black, and the stars so cold and far off and twinkly-**

"You vain bint, this is no time to be dozing off. Get up and run for your life!" Brad yelled.

"**Get up!" a man's voice sounded harshly in my ear. "I thought you were supposed to be good at this!"**

"Oh thank god, help!" Helen sighed, her body slumping against Andy's completely and her grip slackened. Andy robotically stroked her hair as he stared at the book horrified, Brad exhaled and Jake closed his eyes.

"If it's Jesse, he just won himself some brownie points" Jake decided.

**Something exploded in the dirt just an inch from my cheek. I turned my head and saw Junipero Serra's head grinning obscenely at me. **

**Then Jesse was yanking me to my feet and pulling me towards the breezeway. **

"Oh thank god! He's a hero, he saved my baby! If he was here I would kiss him"

"I'll bake him some cookies" Andy promised. "No a cake...no a crumble, oh what the hell I'll bake him all three of them!"

"See, I told you Suze will be all right" David said shakily, his face still white with shock.

"Dude, you can stop clinging to me now" Jake said to Brad.

"Oh shuddup" Brad grumbled darkly.


	11. Chapter 11

_Author's Note: for Paula, Merry Christmas _

Andy took the book from David who was still rather pale and shaky. He ruffled his son's hair "you ok, Dave?" he asked.

David nodded. "Yes, I knew it was illogical for Suze to die right then, after all the next day we saw her safe and sound"

"It's ok to be scared though, we all were" Andy said reassuringly before he turned back to the book.

**We made it back into Mr Walden's classroom. I don't know how, but we did it, the statue's head hurtling after us the whole way, the velocity with which it was travelling causing it to whistle eerily, as if Father Serra was screaming. **

"You mean the head is still chasing them?!" Helen asked horrified as the other flinched slightly.

**The head collided with all the force of a cannonball against the heavy wooden door, just as we slammed it closed behind us. **

"Ouch, that gotta hurt" Brad winced.

"_**Jesus Cristo**_**" Jesse spluttered, as we leaned, panting, with our backs pressed up against the door as if with our sheer weight, we could keep her out – Heather, who could walk through walls if she wanted to. **

"Oh god, what if she watched us in the bathroom or boys showers?" Brad asked horrified.

"Brad, I think Heather has better things to do than perve at the likes of you" Jake said rolling his eyes.

"**I can take care of myself,' you said. 'I'll just have to get rid of her first' you told me. Right!"**

**I was trying to catch my breath, think what to do. I had never seen anything like that. Never. "Shut up" I said. **

"Please Suzie, be nicer to the man you rescued you!" Helen pleaded feeling ashamed at her daughter's manners.

"**Cadaver breath" Jesse turned his head to look down at me. His chest was rising and falling. "Do you realize that's what you called me? That hurt, you know, **_**querida**_**. It really hurt"**

"Awwwwwwww" Helen cooed. "He's already starting to love her!"

"What an idiot, an insane one, no one in their right mind would fancy Suze let alone fall in love with her" Brad said disgustedly.

"Didn't you fancy her during the wedding?" David asked slyly.

Brad spluttered and turned a bright red. "I DID NOT!" he roared.

"Children behave" Andy said mildly.

"**I told you-" something heavy was buffeting against the door. I could feel it knocking against my spine. It didn't take a genius to guess it was the founder of a certain mission's head. "- not to call me that"**

"**Well, I would appreciate if you didn't make disparaging remarks about my-"**

"We. Don't. Want. To. Know" Brad choked out mortified.

"Brad, you pervert he meant his breath" Jake said smacking his younger brother round the head.

"**Look" I said. "This door isn't going to hold up forever"**

"**No" he agreed, just as the metal head managed to smash its way partly through a spot it had weakened in the wood. "May I make a suggestion?"**

"Please let it be run" Helen said to the ceiling.

**I was staring, horrified, down at the head, which had turned, halfway in and halfway out of the door, to look up at me with cold, bronze eyes. It's crazy but I could have sworn it was smiling at me.**

Everyone shuddered.

"**Sure" I said. **

"**Run"**

"Thank god!" Helen said sighing with relief. "Yes Suzie, please run!"

**I wasted no time in taking his advice. I ran for the window sill, and, heedless of the shards of broken glass, swung myself up on to it. It only took a few seconds to open the window again, but that was long enough for Jesse, still pushing against what had begun to sound like a hurricane with all the banging and wailing, to say, "Uh, hurry, please?"**

"Yes please hurry"

**I jumped down into the parking lot. It was kind of funny how, outside the thick adobe walls of the Mission, you couldn't tell at all that there was a severe paranormal disturbance going on inside.**

"Well apparently we can't even tell if there's a severe paranormal disturbance happening right under our nose let alone inside the Mission" David said, his lips twitching in amusement.

"Only you would find that amusing, you loser" Brad said rolling his eyes.

"Brad, don't call your brother a loser"

**The parking lot was still empty, and still quiet, except for the gentle, rhythmic sound of ocean waves. It's just amazing what can be going on beneath people's noses, and they have no idea...no idea at all.**

"Yeah, you're telling me" Jake said.

"**Jesse!" I hissed, through the window. "Come on!" I had no idea if Heather might decide to take out her rage with me on an innocent party – or, if she did, whether Jesse had any cool tricks, **

"I'm sure he does, in fact I bet he's behind her wondering what the hell she's worrying about" Brad said snickering lightly.

"It show's she cares for him too, oh the beginnings of young love!"

"Mom, we really don't want to know!"

**Like the one she pulled with the statue's head, of his own. All I knew was that the sooner the both of us got out of her range, the better. **

**Ok, let me state right now that I am not a coward. **

"Not really considering the insane stuff you get into"

**I'm really not. But I'm not a fool either. I think if you recognize that you are up against a force greater than your own, it is perfectly ok to run. **

"Thank god my daughter is smart enough to recognise that. Otherwise I get the feeling she would long be dead" Helen said.

**It's not ok to leave others behind though. **

"_**Jesse!"**_** I screamed, through the window. **

"**I thought I told you," said a very irritated voice from behind me, "to run"**

"She's too honourable" David said.

"Too stupid more like" Brad muttered.

**I gasped and spun around. Jesse stood there on the asphalt of the parking lot, the moon at his back, casting his face into the shadows. **

"**Oh my God" my heart was beating so fast; **

Helen squealed. "Honey, I don't think Suze meant she fancied him" Andy said smiling fondly at his wife's antics.

**I thought it was going to explode. I had never been so scared in all my life. Never. **

"I get the horrible feeling she will get more scared later on in these books"

"Well considering the weird shit with-"

"Brad language!"

**Maybe that's why I did what I did next, which was reach out and grab the front of Jesse's shirt in both my hands. "Oh my God" I said again. "Jesse are you all right?"**

"**Of course. I'm all right" he sounded surprised I'd even bother to ask. **

"Because he has never had anyone to care for him and he's overwhelmed that Suzie cares. Especially since Suzie acts insensitive and uncaring"

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight"

**And I guess it **_**was **_**stupid. What could Heather do to Jesse, after all? She couldn't exactly kill him. "Are **_**you**_** all right"**

"And he really cares for her back!"

"**Me? I'm fine" I turned my head to search the darkened windows of Mr Walden's classroom. "Do you think she's...done?"**

"**For now" Jesse said. **

Everyone shuddered. "I hate the sound of that; it means Suzie is in more danger"

"**How do you know?" I was shocked to find that I was shaking – really shaking – all over. "How do you know she won't come bursting through that wall there and start uprooting those trees and hurling them at us?"**

Jake shuddered even more. "Oh that's a scary thought; I'm going to have nightmares now"

**Jesse shook his head and I could see that he was smiling. You know, for a guy who died before they invented orthodontia, he had pretty nice teeth. Almost as nice as Bryce's. "She won't"**

"_How do you know?" _Jake hissed. "She's a psycho alive and now dead, only she has super powers!"

"**How do you **_**know?"**_

"**Because she won't. She doesn't know she can. She's too new at all this, Susannah. She doesn't know yet all that she can do"**

"Ooh...i don't like the sound of that" Andy winced.

**If that was supposed to make me feel better, it didn't work. The fact that he admitted she **_**could**_** uproot trees and start hurling them at me – she was **_**that**_** powerful – and only hadn't due to lack of experience, was enough to stop my shaking cold, and drop the handfuls of shirt I held.**

"F-funny I can't stop shaking at the idea"

**Not that I didn't think Heather could have followed me if she wanted to. She could, the same way Jesse had followed me down to the Mission. But the thing of it was, Jesse knew he could. He'd been a ghost a lot longer than Heather. She was only just beginning to explore her new powers. **

**That was the scariest part. She was so new at all of this...and already that powerful. **

"Yeah, don't remind me"

**I started pacing around the parking lot like a crazy woman. **

"See, she admits it!" Brad said triumphantly.

Everyone ignored him.

"**We've got to do something" I said. "We've got to warn Father Dominic – and Bryce. My God, we've got to warn Bryce not to come to school tomorrow. She'll kill him. She'll kill him the minute he sets foot on campus-"**

"If she's behind that cross thing, then she almost did" Jake said.

"**Susannah" Jesse said. **

"**I guess we could call him. It's one in the morning, but we could call him and tell him – I don't know what we could tell him. We could tell him there's been a death threat on him, or something. That might work. Or – we could **_**leave**_** a death threat. Yeah, that's what we could do! We could call his house and I could disguise my voice, and I could be like 'don't come to school tomorrow, or you'll die'. Maybe he'd listen. Maybe he'd-"**

"Somehow I don't think that would have worked"

"**Susannah" Jesse said again. **

"**Or we could have Father Dom do it! We could have Father Dom call Bryce and tell him not to come to school, that there's been some kind of accident, or something-"**

"Like his parents would believe that"

"**Susannah" Jesse stepped in front of me just as I turned around to retread the same five feet I'd been pacing for the past few minutes. I came up short, startled by his sudden proximity, my nose practically banging into place where his shirt collar was open. Jesse seized both my arms quickly, to steady me.**

Helen inhaled sharply and stared at the book intensely, waiting for a passionate moment like the ones in her romance books while her stepsons groaned at the thought.

**This was not a good thing. I mean, I know a minute ago I had grabbed him – well, not really him, but his shirt. But I don't like being touched under normal circumstances, **

"True"

**And I especially don't like being touched by ghosts.**

"Probably very true"

**And I**_** especially**_** don't like being touched by ghosts who have hands as big and as tendon and strong-looking as Jesse's. **

"I don't like the idea of her being touched with hands as big and as tendon and what was it...? Oh yeah strong-looking as Jesse's"

"I do! It's a romantic moment. Soon Suzie will realise she's craving for Jesse's touch!"

"Yeah and next week Jake is taking a vow of celibacy"

"**Susannah" he said again, before I could tell him to get his big tendon hands off me. "It's all right. It's not your fault. There was nothing you could do"**

"I agree, don't be too hard on yourself Suze" Jake said reassuringly. "Heather was always a psycho cow"

**I sort of forgot about being mad about his hands. "Nothing I could do? Are you kidding me? I should have kicked that girl back into her grave!"**

"No! Suzie baby, she would have killed you!"

"**No" Jesse shook his head. "She'd have killed you"**

"See even Jesse agrees with me! Listen to your mother and go home and let Father Dominic handle it"

"**Bull! I totally could have taken her. If she hadn't done that thing with that guy's head-"**

"Scary thing is, she probably could if it wasn't for the fact Heather was too far gone"

"**Susannah"**

"**I mean it, Jesse; I could totally have handled her if she hadn't gotten so mad. I bet if I just wait a little while until she calmed down and go back in there, I can talk her into-"**

"NO!" everyone shouted.

"**No" he let go of my arms, but only so he could wrap one of his own round my shoulders and start steering me away from the school and toward the dumpster where I'd parked my bike. "Come on. Let's go home"**

"**But what about-"**

"NO!"

**The grip on my shoulders tightened. "No"**

"**Jesse you don't understand. This is my **_**job**_**. I have to-"**

"No you don't! As your mother I command you to go home and get some sleep"

"Err...do you want to tell her that she's talking to a book or shall I?"

"Brad, you dimwit you were talking to the book earlier as well"

"Oh shuddup!"

"**It's Father Dominic's job too, no? Let him take it from here. There's no reason why you have to be burdened with all the responsibility yourself"**

"Exactly! Please listen to Jesse sweetheart"

"**Well, yes, there is. I'm the one who screwed up"**

"No you didn't!"

"**You put the gun to her head and pulled the trigger?"**

"**Of course not. But I'm the one who got her so mad. Father Dom didn't. I can't ask Father Dom to clean up my messes. That is totally unfair"**

"**What is totally unfair" Jesse explained – patiently, I guess, for him, "is for anyone to expect a young girl like yourself to do battle with a demon from hell like-"**

Jake and Brad laughed while Helen was nodding in agreement with Jesse. David grinned and Andy had a hard time to stop laughing himself.

"**She isn't a demon from hell. She's just mad. She's mad because the one guy she thought she could trust turned out to be a-"**

"Aren't you going to date this guy?" Brad asked raising an eyebrow.

"**Susannah" Jesse stopped walking suddenly. The only reason I didn't lurch forwards and fall flat on my face was that he still kept hold of my shoulder. **

Helen leaned forwards, eyes wide and glittering with excitement.

**For a minute – just a minute – I really thought...well I thought he was going to kiss me. I'd never been kissed before, **

Brad snorted. "What a loser, I had my first kiss at the age of eleven"

**but it seemed as if all the necessities for a kiss to happen were there: you know, his arm was round me, there was moonlight, our hearts were racing – oh, yeah, and we'd both just narrowly escaped being killed by a really pissed-off ghost. **

"That sort of ruins the imagery" David said fiddling wit his glasses.

**Of course, I didn't know how I felt about my first kiss coming from one of the undead, but hey, beggars can't be choosers,**

Brad opened his mouth to say something but was silenced by everyone's glares.

**And let me tell you something, Jesse was way cuter than any live guy I'd met lately. I'd never seen such a nice-looking ghost. He couldn't, I thought, have been more than twenty when he died. I wondered what had killed him. It's usually hard to tell with ghosts, since their spirits tend to take on the shape their body was in just before they stopped functioning. My dad, for instance, doesn't look any different when he appears to me now than he did the day before he went out for that fatal jog around Prospect Park ten years ago. **

"Oh...." Helen whispered some of the excitement died in her eyes.

**I could only assume Jesse had died at someone else's hands since he looked pretty damned healthy to me. Chances were he'd been a victim of one of those bullet holes downstairs. Nice of Andy to frame it for posterity's sake. **

"Yeah...i now have an urge to fill up that bullet. Blimey Jesse must feel terrible seeing it each time he visits"

**And now this extremely nice-looking ghost looked as if he were going to kiss me. Well, who was I to stop him. **

**So I sort of leaned my head back and looked out at him from underneath my eyelids, and sort of let my mouth get all relaxed, you know?**

"I don't think I want to hear this" Jake muttered.

**And that's when I noticed his attention wasn't focused anywhere near my lips, but way below them. **

"WHAT?!"

**And not my chest either, which would have been an ok second. **

"No it wouldn't have been an ok second because that would mean he was a pervert"

"**You're bleeding" he said. **

**Well that pretty much spoiled the moment. **

Helen deflated with disappointment and the brothers sighed in relief of not hearing about Suze's supposed first kiss.

**My eyes popped wide open at **_**that **_**remark. **

"**I am not" I said automatically since I didn't feel any pain. Then I looked down. There were smallish stains flowering on the pavement below my feet. You couldn't tell what colour they were because it was so dark. In the moonlight they looked black. There were similar dark stains, I saw with horror, on the front of Jesse's shirt. **

"Oooh" Brad winced in sympathy.

"Ye-ouch" Jake agreed.

"Oh my poor baby!"

**But they were definitely coming from me. I checked myself out and found that I'd managed to open what was probably one of the smallest by still fairly important veins in my wrist.**

Helen hissed. "She should have gotten it checked out at hospital"

**I'd peeled off my gloves and stuffed them in my pockets while I'd been talking to Heather, and in my haste to escape during her fit of rage, I'd forgotten to put them back on. I'd probably sliced myself on the broken glass still littering the window sill in Mr Walden's classroom when I'd vaulted up on to it during my escape. **

"Ah so that's why the carpet got all cut up by the police"

**Which just proved my theory that it's always on the way out that you get stuck. **

"Suze, it's not the time to do the I was right dance!"

"Suze isn't lame enough to do that dance. Only you are Brad and even then you never do it"

"**Oh" I said, watching the blood ooze out. I couldn't think of anything else to say but, "what a mess. I'm sorry about your shirt"**

"**It's nothing" Jesse reached into one of the pockets of his dark, narrow-fitting trousers and pulled out something white and soft that he wrapped round my wrist a few times, then tied into place like a tourniquet, only not as tight. He didn't say anything as he did this, concentrating on what he was doing. I have to say this was the first time a ghost had ever performed first aid on me. Not quite as interesting as a kiss would have been, but not entirely boring either. **

Helen squealed. "See romance is blooming already! Hang on what do you mean this is the first time a ghost had ever performed first aid on you?! Why isn't Peter taking care of you?"

"**There" he said when he finished. "Does that hurt?"**

"**No" I said, since it didn't. It wouldn't start hurting, I knew from experience, for a few hours. I cleared my throat. "Thanks"**

"**It's nothing" he said. **

"**No" I said. Suddenly, ridiculously, I felt like crying. Really. And I never cry. "I mean it. Thanks. Thanks for coming out here to help me. You shouldn't have done it. I mean, I'm glad you did. And...Well, thanks. That's all"**

"Ooh that gotta hurt. Actually thanking someone while almost crying. Good job Suze you're halfway to being human"

"Brad, quit the smart arse comments or I'll send you in the corner again"

**He looked embarrassed. Well I suppose that was natural, me going all mushy on him the way I just then. But I couldn't help it. I mean, I still couldn't really believe it. No ghost had ever been so nice to me. Oh, my dad tried, I guess. But he wasn't exactly what you call reliable about it. I could never really count on him, especially in a crisis. **

"Hmmm...Well if I ever see him again I shall strangle him!"

**But Jesse. Jesse had come through for me. And I hadn't even asked him to. In fact, I'd been pretty unpleasant to him, overall. **

"Yep! Jesse must have been dropped on his head as a baby or something"

"Ok that's it. Brad corner until the end of the next chapter"

Brad grumbled as he crawled back into his corner and sat there, back turned away from them as he sulked.

"**Never mind" was all he said, though. And then he added. "Let's go home"**

"And that is the end" Andy said passing the book to Helen. "Your turn darling"


	12. Chapter 12

_Author's Note: For Foxy! _

**Let's go home. **

**It had a very cosy feel to it, that "Let's go home"**

"Aw, she was already beginning to feel at home" Helen beamed.

**Except, of course, that the house we shared didn't quite feel like home to me yet. How could it? I'd only lived there a few days. **

**And of course, **_**he **_**shouldn't have been living there at all. **

"Well that sort of ruined the warm fuzzy moment" Andy joked weakly as the smile on Helen's face fell. "Hey, we got there in the end didn't we" he said gently.

"Of course" Helen said smiling weakly.

**Still, ghost or not, he saved my life. There was no denying that. He'd probably only done it to get on my good side so I wouldn't kick him out of the house entirely. **

"Probably, but I think it's impossible for it to last" Jake grinned.

"It's not why he rescued her! He rescued her because he was already starting to feel protective over her" Helen argued.

**But regardless of why he'd done it, it had still been pretty nice of him. Nobody had ever volunteered to help me before – **

"I would have if she told me!" Helen exclaimed.

"Would you have actually believed her?" David asked.

"I don't know..."Helen admitted. "It all sounds so...ludicrous..."

**Mostly because, of course, nobody knew I needed help. Even Gina, who'd been there when Madame Zara had first pronounced me a mediator, never knew why it was I would show up to school so groggy-eyed, or where it was I went to when I cut class – which I did all too frequently. **

"Much to my chagrin" Helen muttered.

**And I couldn't exactly explain. Not that Gina would have thought I was crazy or anything, **

"She wouldn't have?" Jake looked thoughtful. "Well in a way she is a little eccentric herself..."

**But she'd have told someone **

"Now Suzie, you really need more trust in the people you care about" Helen said sternly.

– **You can't keep something like this secret unless it's happening to you – who'd have told someone else, and eventually, somewhere along the line, I knew someone would have told my mother. **

**And my mother would have freaked.**

"I wouldn't have...much...maybe just a little....all right I probably would have"

**That is, naturally, what mothers do, and mine is no exception. She'd already stuck me in therapy**

"I'm regretting that"

**Where I was forced to sit and invent elaborate lies in the hopes explaining my anti-social behaviour. I did not need to spend any time in a mental institution which was undoubtedly where I'd have ended up if my mother had ever found out the truth. **

"Well you won't! But we will have a very long talk about it"

**So, yeah, I was grateful to have Jesse along, even though he sort of made me nervous. After the debacle at the Mission, he walked me home, which was gentlemanly and all. **

Helen let out a muffled squeal.

**He even, in deference to my injury, insisted on pushing the bike. I suppose if anybody had looked out the window of any of the houses we were passing, they would have thought their eyes were playing tricks on them: they'd have seen me plodding along with this bike rolling effortlessly behind me – **_**only my hands weren't touching the bike.**_

"Yes that is a little strange" David said amused.

**Good thing people on the West Cost go to bed so early. **

"We do?"

**The whole way home, I obsessed over what I'd done wrong in my dealings with Heather.**

"It wasn't your fault Suze. Heather had always been a stuck up bi...i mean witch"

**I didn't do it out loud – I figured I'd done enough of that; I didn't want to sound like a broken record or player piano, or whatever it was they had back in Jesse's day. **

David bit his lip to stop a giggle.

**But it was still all I could think about. Never, not in all my years of mediating, had I ever encountered such a violent, irrational spirit.**

"Thank God for that" Helen said gratefully.

**I simply did no know what to do. And I knew I had to figure it out, and quick; I only had a few hours before school started and Bryce walked straight into what was, for him, a death trap.**

"Yep, poor bugger is doomed"

**I don't know if Jesse figured out why I was so quiet, or if he was thinking about Heather, too, or what. All I know was that, suddenly he broke the silence we'd been walking in and went "Heav'n has no rage like love to hatred turn'd, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned'" **

**I looked at him. "Are you speaking from experience?" **

Everyone laughed, David laughed the hardest. "It's William Congreve" he managed to get out between bouts of laughter.

**I saw him smile a little in the moonlight. "Actually," he said, "I am quoting William Congreve"**

"**Oh" I thought about that. "But you know, sometimes the woman scorned has every right to be mad"**

"Is she speaking from experience?" Jake asked amused.

"**Are **_**you **_**speaking from experience?" he wanted to know. **

**I snorted. "Not hardly" a guy has to like you before he can scorn you. But I didn't say that out loud. No way would I ever say something like that out loud. I mean, not that I **_**cared**_** what Jesse thought about me. Why should I care what some dead cowboy thought of me?**

"See! She's already caring what he thinks about her!"

"Ok, Mom, we get the picture"

**But I wasn't about to admit it to him that I never had a boyfriend. You just don't go around saying things like that to totally hot guys, even if they're dead.**

"And you're beginning to fall for" Helen added.

"**But we don't know what went on between Heather and Bryce – not really. I mean she could have every right to feel resentful"**

"Hey! If anything Bryce had the right to be resentful, she was always constantly texting him, calling him, accusing him of cheating, yet he stuck by her for two stinking years!"

"**Towards him, I suppose she does" Jesse said, though he sounded grudging about admitting it. "But not towards **_**you**_**. She had no right to hurt **_**you"**_

Helen let out another muffled squeal. "He's so adorable! I hope he becomes my son in law"

The men just rolled their eyes.

**He sounded so mad about it that I thought it was probably better to change the subject. I mean, I guess I should have been mad about Heather trying to kill me, but you know, I'm sort of used to dealing with irrational people**

"I don't like the sound of that"

"Neither do I"

**. Well, ok, not as irrational as Heather, but you know what I mean. And one thing I've learned is you can't take it personally. Yeah, she'd tried to kill me, but I wasn't really sure she knew any better. **

"It's not an excuse!"

**Who knew what kind of parents she had, after all? Maybe they went around murdering anybody who made them mad...**

"Not likely" Jake snorted. "The Chambers are very indulgent to their daughter and very snobby to others"

**Although somehow, after having seen that add-a-pearl necklace, I sort of doubted that. **

**Thinking about murder made me wonder what had gotten Jesse so hot under the collar about it. Then I realized that he'd probably been murdered.**

"Most likely"

**Either that or he'd killed himself. But I didn't think he was really the suicide type. I supposed he could have died of some sort of wasting disease...**

**It probably wasn't very tactful of me – but then, nobody's ever accused me of tact –**

"Yes, she definitely lacks tact"

**But I went ahead and just asked him as we were climbing the long gravel driveway to the house. "Hey. How'd you die, anyway?"**

Helen groaned. "Oh Suzie, how...how...how_ inconsiderate_ of you!"

**Jesse didn't say anything right away. I'd probably offended him.**

"I bet you did"

**Ghosts don't really like talking about how they died, I've noticed.**

"I wonder why"

"I noticed Jake, that when Brad is in the corner you seem to start taking over the sarcastic comments. I wonder why?"

"Because strangely enough it's a bit boring without him. Although we could do without the stupidity"

"Hey!"

"You're supposed to be quiet Bradley; I don't hear you being quiet"

**Sometimes they can't remember. Car-crash victims usually haven't the slightest clue what happened to them. That's why I always see them wandering around looking for the other people who were in the car with them. **

"I wonder if she met the RLS Angels" David mused. "It would have explained a lot about that incident"

"I wish she hadn't" Helen said. "I really wish she hadn't"

**I have to go up and explain to them what happened and then try to figure out where the people are who they're looking for. This is a major pain, too, let me tell you. I have to go all the way to the precinct that took the accident report and pretend I'm doing a school report or whatever and record the names of the victims, then follow up on what happened to them. **

"Well that explains the considerable amount of homework she had and yet she failed several classes"

**I tell you, sometimes I feel like my work never ends. **

**Anyway, Jesse was quiet for a while, and I figured he wasn't going to tell me. He was looking straight ahead, up at the house – the house where he'd died, the house he was destined to haunt until...well, until he resolved whatever it was that was holding him to this world. **

"Or until you somehow brought him back to life....hey Dave is it possible that the Jesse we know is just a recarnation"

"Not really since the Jesse we know is in his twenties"

"Yeah...i still don't like the fact Suze is dating a guy way older than her"

**The moon was still out, pretty high in the sky now, and I could see Jesse's face almost as if it were day. He didn't look a whole lot different from usual. His mouth, which was on the thin-but-wide-side, was kind of frowning, which, as near as I could tell, was what it usually did. And underneath those glossy black eyebrows, his thickly-lashed eyes revealed about as much as a mirror – that is, I could probably have seen my reflection in them, but I couldn't read nothing about what he might be thinking. **

"Don't worry, you soon be able to pick up every little detail. You just need to spend more time and have another life threatening crisis"

"Helen, this is our daughter's life not a romance novel"

"Suzie! No more life threatening crises! I can't handle another one!"

"**Um" I said. "You know what? Never mind. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to-"**

"**No" he said. "It's all right"**

"**I was just kinda curious, that's all" I said. "But if it's too personal..."**

"It's personal"

"**It isn't too personal" we had reached the house by then. He wheeled the bike to where it was supposed to go, and leaned it up against the carport wall. He was deep in the shadows when he said. "You know this house wasn't always a family home"**

"Really, I hadn't known"

"You too Dad?"

"Just don't tell your brother" Andy whispered.

**I went, "oh, really?" like this was the first I've heard of it. **

"**Yes. It was once a hotel. Well, more like a boarding house, really, than a hotel"**

**I asked brightly, "and you were staying here as a guest?"**

"**Yes" he came out from the shade of the carport, but he wasn't looking at me when he spoke next. He was squinting out towards the sea. **

"**And..." I tried to prompt him. "Something happened while you were staying here?"**

"I don't think he wants to tell her just yet"

"**Yes" he looked at me then. He looked at me for a long time. Then he said, "But it's a long story, and you must be very tired. Go to bed. In the morning we will decide what to do about Heather"**

"What a cop-out!" Jake yelled. "I wanted to know what happened!"

**Talk about unfair!**

"I agree"

"**Wait a minute" I said. "I am not going anywhere until you finish that story"**

**He shook his head. "No. It's too late. I'll tell you some other time"**

"**Jeez!" I sounded like a little kid whose mom had told him to go to bed early, but I didn't care. I was mad. "You can't just start a story and then not finish it. You have to-"**

"Yeah, don't leave us in suspense!"

**Jesse was laughing at me now. "Go to bed, Susannah" he said, coming up and giving me a gentle push towards the front steps. "You have had enough scaring for one night"**

Jake snorted. "Probably isn't that scary"

"**But you-"**

"**Some other time" he said. He had steered me in the direction of the porch, and now I stood on the lowest step looking back at him as he laughed at me. **

"**Do you promise?"**

**I saw his teeth flash white in the moonlight. "I promise. Good night, **_**querida**_**"**

"Awww" Helen cooed.

"**I told you" I grumbled, stomping up the steps, "not to call me that"**

**It was nearly three o'clock in the morning, though, and I could only summon up token indignation. I was still on New York time, remember, three hours ahead. It had been hard enough getting up in time for school when I'd had a full eight hours of sleep. How hard was it going to be after only having had four?**

"I should have just let her slept in, that way she wouldn't have been practically comatose the day after the next"

**I slipped into the house as quietly as I could. Fortunately everybody except the dog was dead asleep. The dog looked up from the couch on which he was reclining and wagged his tail when he saw I was me. Some watchdog.**

"He was what?!" Helen fumed.

"Max is too gentle to be a watchdog. He's perfect for an experiment subject and life companion though"

**Plus my mom didn't want him sleeping on her white couch. But I wasn't about to make an enemy out of Max by shooing him off. **

"But Suzie, my white couch!"

**If allowing him to sleep on the couch was all that was necessary to keep him from alerting the household that I'd been out, then it was well worth it. **

"Hmmm... I think Max will be locked out of the living room from now on"

**I slogged up the stairs, wondering the whole time what I was going to do about Heather. I guessed I was going to have to wake up early and call over to the school, and warn Father Dom to meet Bryce the minute he set foot on campus and send him home. Even, I decided if we had to resort to head lice. I wouldn't object. All that mattered, in the long run, was that Heather was kept from her goal. **

"Why do I get the feeling this plan fails completely?"

"Um...because it did?"

**Still, the thought of waking up early to do anything – even to save the life of my date for Saturday night – was not very appealing. Now that the adrenalin rush was gone, I realized I was dead tired. I staggered into the bathroom to change into my pj's – hey, I was pretty sure Jesse wasn't spying on me, but he still hadn't told me how he died, so I wasn't taking any chances. He could have been hanged, you know, for peeping Tomism, which I believed happened occasionally a hundred and fifty years ago. **

Jake, Andy and David spluttered with laughter. Brad in his corner was trying his hardest to keep silent while Helen rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.

**It wasn't until I was changing the bandage on the cut on my wrist that I happened to take a look at the thing he'd wrapped round it. **

**It was a handkerchief. Everybody carried one in the olden days because there was no such thing as Kleenex. People were pretty fussy about them, too, sewing their initials on to them so they didn't get mixed up in the wash with other people's hankies. **

**Only Jesse's handkerchief didn't have his initials on it, I noticed after I rinsed it in the sink then wrung out my blood as best I could. It was a big linen square, white – well kind of pink now – with an edging all round it of this delicate white lace. Kind of fem for a guy. **

"So he's what, gay?"

"Of course not!" Helen said scandalized. "It must be a memento of his long lost lover that probably betrayed him. Suze might possibly look like her, which is why he's protecting her, eventually he'll realize that Suze isn't this woman but better and love her for her"

"Again, this is Suze we're talking about, not some novel"

"Less of the cheek, young man!"

**I might have been a little concerned about Jesse's sexual orientation if I hadn't noticed the initials sewn in one corner. The stitches were tiny, white thread on the white material but the letters themselves were huge, in flowery script: MDS. That was right. MDS. No J to be found. **

"Maybe Jesse is his fake name?" Andy suggested.

David bit his inner cheek to stop laughing. His father really had no idea how right he was. "It's his lover's initials!" Helen insisted. The urge to laugh got harder to fight, his stepmother also had no idea how right she was.

**Weird. Very weird. **

**I hung the cloth up to dry. I didn't have to worry about anybody seeing it. In the first place, nobody used my bathroom but me, and in the second place, nobody would be able to see it any more than they could see Jesse. **

"Really?" David said bewildered.

**It would be there tomorrow. Maybe I wouldn't give it back to him without demanding some sort of explanation about those letters. MDS. **

**It wasn't until I was falling asleep that I realized MDS must have been a girl. Why else would there have been all that lace? And that curlicue script? Had Jesse died not in a gunfight, as I originally assumed, but in some sort of lovers' quarrel?**

**I don't know why the thought disturbed me so much, but it did. It kept me awake for about three whole minutes. **

"Jealous already" Helen said smugly.

**Then, I rolled over, missed my old bed very briefly, and fell asleep. **

"And that's the end of the entry" Helen said passing the book to Jake. "Brad you can come out now"

"Finally!" Brad exploded. "I thought I would be stuck here forever!"


	13. Chapter 13

_Author's Note: sorry for such a long wait for this, I was busy with lots of school work, then personal stuff, then I was exhausted and to top it up FF wasn't working. I hope you enjoy it all the same though. This one is dedicated to all those who R&R-ed. _

"Right then, my turn" Jake said taking the book. "You better stay out of the corner Brad; it's your turn after this"

"Whatever" Brad grumbled, shrugging despite the scowl on his face.

**My intention, of course, had been to wake up early and call Father Dominic to warn him about Heather. But intentions are only as good as the people who hold them, and I guess I must be worthless **

"Suzie, don't talk about yourself like that!"

**Because I didn't wake up until my mother shook me awake, and by then it was seven-thirty and my ride was leaving without me. **

"Fat chance of that" Brad snorted

"I really should have left her to sleep considering what happens the next day"

**Or so they thought. There was a huge delay when Sleepy discovered he'd lost the keys to the Rambler, **

"Apparently not" Andy muttered remembering Suze's confession of stealing them a few entries before. "Remind me to ground her"

"Oh I will" Brad said rubbing his hands together gleefully.

**So I was able to drag myself out of bed and into some kind of outfit – I had no idea what. **

"It was very black. That's all I can remember" David said screwing his face up in memory.

**I came staggering down the stairs, feeling like somebody had hit me on the head a few times with a bag of rocks just as Doc was telling everybody that Sister Ernestine had warned him if he missed another Assembly, he'd be held back a year. **

"What?!" Helen yelped. "Holding someone as intelligent as my son over something so pathetic and stupid as an Assembly!"

Andy frowned. "Hmm...I think I'm going to have to have a word with the board of governors"

David blushed lightly. "You don't need to make such a big fuss" he muttered.

**That's when I remembered the keys to the Rambler were still in the pocket of my leather jacket when I'd left them the night before.**

**I slunk back up the stairs and pretended to find the keys on the landing. There was some jubilation over this,**

"Because I left them on the hook!"

**But mostly a lot of grumbling, since Sleepy swore he left them hanging on the key hook **

"I did!"

**In the kitchen and couldn't figure out how they'd gotten on the landing. Dopey said, "It was probably Dave's ghost" and leered at Doc, who looked embarrassed.**

David glared at Brad. "I was half right in the end"

"Yeah but it was still Suze who took the keys not the ghost"

**Then we all piled into the car and took off. **

**We were late, of course. Assembly at the Junipero Serra Mission Academy begins promptly at eight o'clock. We got there at around two after. What happens at Assembly is, they make everybody stand outside in these lines separated by sex, boys on one side, girls on the other**

"It's unfair and old fashioned" Brad grumbled.

"You're just saying that because you miss your chances of flirting with Kelly Prescott then" David said knowingly.

"Shuddup"

– **For fifteen minutes before school officially starts, so they can take attendance and read announcements and stuff. By the time we got there, of course, Assembly had already started. I had intended to duck right past and head straight to Father Dominic's office, but of course, I never got the chance. Sister Ernestine caught us traipsing in late, and gave each of us the evil eye until we slunk into our various lines. I didn't much care what Sister Ernestine jotted down in her little black book about me, but I could see that getting to the principal's office was going to be impossible, due to the yellow caution tape strung up across every single archway that led to the courtyard – and, of course, all the cops. **

"Oops, bet she forgot the consequences of breaking and entering"

**I guess what had happened was, all the priests and nuns and stuff had gotten up for matins, which is what they call the first Mass of the morning, and they'd all walked outside and seen the stature of their church's founder with his head cut off, and the fountain with hardly any water left in it, and the bench where I'd been sitting all twisted and tipped over, and the door to Mr Walden's classroom in smithereens. **

"Mass panic"

**Understandably, I guess, they freaked out and called for the cops. People in uniform were crawling all over the place, taking fingerprints and measuring stuff, like the distance Junipero Serra's head had travelled from his body, and the velocity it had to have travelled to make that many holes in a door that was made of three-inch-thick wood, **

David opened his mouth. "Don't" Jake said firmly. "We won't understand and quite frankly I don't want to know"

David looked a little disappointed but nodded and closed his mouth.

**And that kind of thing. I saw a guy in a dark-blue windbreaker with the letters CBTSPD – Carmel-by-the-Sea Police Department? **

"Yep!"

– **On the back conferring with Father Dominic, who looked really, really tired. I couldn't catch his eye, **

"Stressed more likely"

**And supposed I'd have to wait until after Assembly to sneak away and apologize to him. **

"Awww"

**At Assembly, Sister Ernestine, the vice principal, told us vandals had done it. Vandals had broken through Mr Walden's classroom, and wreaked havoc all over the school. What was fortunate, we were told, was that the solid gold chalice and salver used for the sacramental wine and hosts had not been stolen,**

"Yeah but if Heather thought she could use them to make jewellery I bet she would take them" Jake muttered darkly.

**But were left sitting in their little cupboard behind the church alter. The vandals had rudely beheaded our school founder, but left the really valuable stuff alone. We were told that if any of us knew anything about this horrible violation, we were to come forward immediately. And that if we were uncomfortable coming forward personally, we could do it anonymously – Monsignor Constantine would be hearing confession all morning. **

"Yes because Suze would really confess" Brad said sarcastically.

"And I doubt Heather had ever confessed in her life let alone in her death" Jake added.

**As if! Hey, it hadn't been **_**my**_** fault Heather had gone berserk. Well, not really, anyway. If anybody should be going to confession, it was **_**her**_**. **

"Fat chance of that!"

**As I stood in line – behind Cee Cee, who couldn't hide her delight over what had happened; **

"She's an albino, evil I tell you!"

"Brad, you're just upset because she used that failed party of yours last September as an article in her paper as to _how _not to throw a party"

"Shuddup David!"

**You could practically see the headline forming in her mind: **_**Father Serra Loses His Head Over Vandals –**_

"Literally" David said, his lips twitching.

**I craned my neck, trying to see over to the seniors. Was Bryce there? I couldn't see him. Maybe Father Dom had gotten to him already, and sent him home. He had to have recognized that the mess in the courtyard was the result of spiritual, not human, agitation, and had acted accordingly. I hoped for Bryce's sake, that Father Dom hadn't resorted to the head lice. **

All the men burst out laughing while Helen nodded, siding with her daughter on the matter.

**Ok, I hoped it for my sake, I admit it. I really wanted our date on Saturday to go well, and not be cancelled due to head lice.**

"Shame it got cancelled for other reasons"

**Is that such a crime? A girl can't spend **_**all**_** her time battling psychic disturbances. She needs a little romance too. **

"But you had plenty romance from the perverted ghost!"

"I keep telling you Jake, Jesse is too honourable to be perverted"

"You don't know that!"

"I know Jesse"

**But of course, the minute Assembly was over and I tried to ditch homeroom and hightail it to Father Dom's office, Sister Ernestine caught me and said, just as I was about to duck under some of the yellow caution tape, "excuse me, Miss Simon. Perhaps back in New York it is perfectly all right to ignore police warnings, but here in California it is considered highly ill-advised"**

Helen's eye twitched in annoyance. She smoothed her skirt down and clenched her hands into fists before relaxing them and putting a fake smile on.

Her stepsons exchanged worried looks. They knew what their stepmother was like when she was on the edge of losing her temper and obviously Sister Ernestine's use of stereotypes was getting on Helen's already frazzled nerves.

**I straightened. I had nearly made it, too. I thought some uncharitable things about Sister Ernestine, but managed to say, civilly enough, "Oh, Sister, I'm so sorry. You see, I just need to get to Father Dominic's office"**

"**Father Dominic" Sister Ernestine said coldly, "is extremely busy this morning. He happens to be consulting with the police over last night's unfortunate incident. He won't be available until after lunch at the earliest"**

"Snob" Brad said in between coughs.

**I know it's probably wrong to fantasize about giving a nun a karate chop in the neck, but I couldn't help it. She was making me mad. **

"Trust me, everyone has fantasized hitting her"

"**Listen, Sister" I said. "Father Dominic asked me to come see him this morning. I've got some, um, transcripts from my old school that he wanted to see. I had to have them FedExed all the way from New York, and they just got there, so-"**

"That's not going to work"

**I thought that was pretty quick thinking on my part, about the transcripts and the FedEx and all, but then Sister Ernestine held out her hand and went, "give them to me, and I'll be happy to deliver them to the Father"**

**Damn!**

"See, told you so"

"**Uh!" I said, backing away. "Never mind. I guess I'll just...I'll see him after lunch"**

**Sister Ernestine gave me a kind of Aha-I-thought-so look, then turned her attention to some innocent kid who'd made the mistake of coming to school in a pair of Levi's, a blatant violation of the dress code. The kid wailed, "They were my only clean pants!" but Sister Ernestine didn't care. **

"Heartless cow!"

"Brad. Stop insulting your vice principal"

"But Dad-"

"No buts"

**She stood there – unfortunately still guarding the only route to the principal's office – and wrote the kid up on the spot. **

**I had no choice but to go to class. I mean, what was there to tell Father Dominic, anyway, that he didn't already know? I'm sure he knew it was Heather who'd wrecked the school and me who'd broken Mr Walden's window. He probably wasn't going to be all that happy with me anyway, so why was I even bothering? What I ought to have been doing was trying as much as possible to stay out of his way. **

"Suze is too honourable to do that" David said knowingly.

**Except...except what about Heather?**

**As near as I could tell, she was still recuperating from her explosive rage the night before. I saw no sign of her as I made my way to Mr Walden's classroom for first period, which was good: Father D and I would have time to draw up some kind of plan before she struck again. **

"Not likely" Brad snorted.

**As I sat there in class trying to convince myself that everything was going to be all right, I couldn't help feeling kind of bad for poor Mr Walden. He was taking having the door to his classroom obliterated pretty well. He didn't even seem to mind the broken window so much.**

"Because he doesn't care"

**Of course everybody in school was buzzing about what had happened. People were saying it had been a prank, the severing of Junipero Serra's head. A senior prank. **

"Nah, they had something else planned" Jake said.

"Like what?" David asked.

"No idea, I was asleep majority of the year"

**One year, Cee Cee told me, the seniors had strapped pillows to the clappers of the church bells, so that when they rang, all that came out was a muffled sort of splatting sound. I guess people suspected this was the same sort of thing. **

The boys sniggered as their parents merely rolled their eyes.

**If only they had known the truth. Heather's seat, next to Kelly Prescott, remained conspicuously vacant, while her locker – now assigned to me – was still unopenable thanks to the dent her body had made when I'd thrown her against it.**

**It was sort of ironic that as I was sitting there thinking this Kelly Prescott raised her hand and, when Mr Walden called on her, asked if he didn't think it was unfair, Monsignor Constantine declaring that no memorial service would be held for Heather. **

Jake groaned loudly.

**Mr Walden leaned back in his seat and put both his feet up on his desk. Then he said, "Don't look at me. I just work here"**

"Told you he doesn't care"

"**Well," Kelly said, "don't you think it's unfair?" she turned to the rest of the class, her big, mascara trimmed eyes appealing. "Heather Chambers came here for ten years. It's inexcusable that she shouldn't be memorialized in her own school. And frankly, I think what happened yesterday was a sign"**

Jake and Brad spluttered with laughter.

**Mr Walden looked vastly amused. "A sign, Kelly?"**

"**That's right. I believe what happened here last night – and even that piece of the breezeway nearly killing Bryce – are all connected. I don't believe Father Serra's stature was desecrated by vandals at all, but by angels. Angels who are angry about Monsignor Constantine not allowing Heather's parents to have her funeral here"**

"Yes, because angels would want to defend a selfish slag" Jake said sarcastically.

"Jake! Be respectful!" Andy scolded.

**This caused a good deal of buzzing in the classroom. People looked nervously at Heather's empty chair. Normally I don't talk much in school, but I couldn't let this one go by. **

Brad grinned. "Oh, this will be good"

**I said, "So you're saying you think it was an angel who broke this window behind me Kelly?"**

**Kelly had to twist around in her seat to see me. "Well," she said. "It could have been..."**

"**Right. And you think it was angels who broke down Mr Walden's door, and cut off that statue's head, and wrecked the courtyard?"**

**Kelly stuck out her chin. "Yes" she said. "I do. Angels angered over Monsignor Constantine's decision not to allow us to memorialize Heather"**

**I shook my head. "Bull" I said. **

The boys giggled while Andy glared at them and Helen put her face against her palm and shook her head. "Oh Suzie" she muttered.

**Kelly raised her eyebrows. "I beg your pardon?"**

"**I said bull, Kelly. I think your theory is full of bull"**

"Tact, Suzie, it's called tact!"

**Kelly turned a very interesting shade of red. I think she was probably regretting inviting me to her pool party. **

"She regrets having Suzie in her life. Period" Brad said.

"**You don't know it wasn't angels, Suze" she said acidly. **

"**Actually I do. Because to the best of my knowledge angels don't bleed, and there was blood all over the carpeting back from where the vandal hurt himself breaking in. That's why the police cut up chunks of the run and took them away"**

Brad and Jake roared with laughter while David chuckled lightly.

"Silly girl, just go and confess while you're at it" Helen muttered.

**Kelly wasn't the only one who gasped. Everybody kind of freaked out. I probably shouldn't have pointed out the blood – especially since it was mine – but hey, I couldn't let her go around saying it was all because of angels. Angels, my butt. What did she think this was anyway? **_**Highway to Heaven?**_

"Apparently, yes"

"**Ok" Mr Walden said. "On that note, everybody, it's time for second period. Susannah, could I see you a minute?"**

"Ooh she's in trouble"

"Try to be a little less gleeful about that Bradley"

**Cee Cee turned around to waggle her white eyebrows at me. "You're in for it now, sucker" she hissed, **

**But she had no idea how true her words were. All anybody would have to do was take a look at the Band-Aids all over my wrist, and they'd know I had first-hand knowledge of where that blood had come from. **

**On the other hand, they had no reason to suspect me, did they?**

"Not really" Brad admitted grudgingly.

**I approached Mr Walden's desk, my heart in my throat. He was going to turn you in, I thought, frantically. You are so busted, Simon. **

**But all Mr Walden wanted to do was compliment me on my use of footnotes in my essay on the battle of Bladensburg, which he noticed as I handed it in. **

"And so begins another favouritism"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, every teacher but Sister Ernestine loves Suze to bits"

"Brad, just because you can't stand her doesn't mean, Suze isn't a polite, hard working young lady"

"She's just a suck-up" Brad grumbled darkly.

"**Uh" I said. "It was really no big deal, Mr Walden"**

"**Yes, but footnotes-" he sighed. "I haven't seen footnotes used correctly since I taught adult education class over at the community college. Really, you did a great job"**

"Oh, Suzie I'm so proud of you!"

**I muttered a modest thank-you. I didn't want to admit that the reason I knew so much about the battle of Bladensburg was that I once helped a veteran of that battle direct a couple of his ancestors to a long buried bag of money he'd dropped during it. **

"That must have been interesting" David said thoughtfully.

**It's funny the things that hold people back from getting on with their life...or their death, I should say. **

"Yeah..." Jake muttered.

**I was about to tell Mr Walden that while I'd loved, under ordinary circumstances, to stick around and chat about famous American battles, I really had to go – I was going to see if Sister Ernestine was still guarding the way to Father Dom's office – when Mr Walden stopped me cold with these few words. "It's funny about Kelly bringing up Heather Chambers that way, actually, Susannah"**

"Oh?"

**I eyed him warily. "Oh? How so?**

"**Well I don't know if you're aware of this, but Heather was the sophomore class vice president, and now that she's gone, we've been collecting nominations for a new VP. Well, believe it or not, you've been nominated. Twelve times so far"**

"TWELVE?!"

"Wow that is so amazing! My darling girl has gotten so popular!"

"Who would be stupid enough to nominate her?"

**My eyes must have bugged out of my head. I forgot about how I had to go and see Father Dominic. "**_**Twelve**_** times?"**

"**Yes, I know, it's unusual, isn't it?"**

"Very"

**I couldn't believe it. "But I'd only been coming here one day!"**

"**Well, you've made quite an impression. I myself would guess that you didn't exactly make any enemies yesterday when you offered to break Debbie Mancuso's fingers after school. She is not one of the better-liked girls in the class"**

"He knew and didn't intervene like a proper teacher should?!"

"Told you Mom, he doesn't care"

**I stared at him. So Mr Walden **_**had **_**overheard my little threat. The fact that he had and not sent me straight to detention made me appreciate him in a way I had never appreciated a teacher before. **

"Great, just great. Walden encourages her to be more violent and of course I get it all aimed at me"

"Brad you get it aimed at you because you provoke her"

"Whatever"

"**Oh, and I guess your pushing Bryce Martinson out of the way of that flying chunk of wood – that probably didn't hurt much either" he added. **

"**Wow," I said. I guess I probably don't need to point out that at my old school, I wouldn't exactly have won any popularity contests. I never even bothered going out for cheerleading or running for homecoming queen.**

Helen sighed heavily.

**Besides the fact that at my old school cheerleading was considered a stupid waste of time and in Brooklyn it isn't exactly a compliment to be called a queen,**

"True" Helen admitted.

**I never would have made either one. And no one – **_**no one **_**– had ever nominated me before for anything. **

**I was way too flattered to follow my initial instinct, which was to say, "Thanks, but no thanks" and run. **

"**Well," I said, instead, "what does the vice president of the sophomore class have to do?"**

"Actually that is a good question" Brad said. "What does the vice president of the sophomore class do?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot" he replied before continue reading.

**Mr Walden shrugged. "Help the president determine how to spend the class budget, mostly. It's not much, just a little over three thousand dollars. Kelly and Heather were planning on using the money to hold a dance over at the Carmel Inn, but-"**

"_**Three thousand dollars?"**_** my mouth was probably hanging open, but I didn't care. **

"**Yes, I know it's not much-"**

"**And we can spend it anyway we want?" my mind was spinning. "Like, if we wanted to have a bunch of cookouts down at the beach, we could do that?"**

"Oh, that's a lovely idea"

**Mr Walden looked down at me curiously. "Sure. You have to have the approval of the rest of the class, though. I have a feeling there might be some noises from administration about using the class money to men the statue of Father Serra, but-"**

"Very true, the cheapskates wouldn't think of using money out of their own pockets"

**But whatever Mr Walden had been about to say, he didn't get a chance to finish. Cee Cee came running back into the classroom, her purple eyes wide behind the tinted prescription lenses of her glasses. **

"**Come quick!" She yelled. "There's been an accident! Father Dominic and Bryce Martinson-"**

"Oh no!" Helen gasped.

"Heather" Jake growled.

**I whirled around fast. "What?" I demanded way more sharply than I needed to. "What about them?"**

"**I think they're dead!"**

"WHAT?!"

David took a shaky breath. "It's all right. It's that incident right? Father Dominic is fine and has been since"

"Yeah but she had to end it just there? I think I almost had a heart attack"


	14. Chapter 14

_Author's Note: a Christmas present for Mysty_

"Right then, my turn" Brad said taking a deep breath before starting to read.

**I ran so fast that later, Sister Mary Clair, the track coach, asked me if I'd like to try out for the team.**

"So why didn't you join? It would have looked good on your college apps?" Helen demanded to know.

"I don't think Suze enjoys running" David said.

**But Cee Cee was wrong on all three accounts. Father Dominic wasn't dead. Neither was Bryce.**

"Oh thank God" Andy said to the ceiling.

**And there'd been nothing accidental about it.**

"Of course not, it would have to be Heather's fault" Jake said.

**As near as anyone could figure out, what happened was this: Bryce went into the principal's office for something – nobody knew what. A late pass, maybe, since he'd missed Assembly – but not, as I hoped, because Father Dom had got hold of him. **

"Nah, I bet Father D did get hold of him. It's just no one knew or thought of that so the rumour didn't reach Suze"

**Bryce had been standing in front of the secretary's desk beneath the giant crucifix Adam had told me would weep tears of blood if a virgin ever graduated from the Mission Academy (the secretary hadn't been there, she'd been serving coffee to the cops who were still hanging around the courtyard)**

"Flirting with them, more like" Brad muttered.

"Not a mental image I needed, dude" Jake said screwing his nose up in disgust.

**When the six-foot-tall cross suddenly came loose from the wall. Father Dominic opened his office door just in time to see it falling forwards, where it surely would have crushed Bryce's skull. But because Father Dominic shoved him to safety, it succeeded only in delivering a glancing blow that crushed Bryce's collarbone. **

"Father Dominic is such a thoughtful and brave man" Helen said.

"A true role model" Andy agreed.

"Father D rocks"

**Unfortunately, Father Dominic ended up taking the weight of the falling cross himself. It pinned him to the office floor, smashing most of his ribs and breaking one of his legs. **

Everyone winced and grimaced in sympathy. "Ye-ouch" Brad said.

**Mr Walden and a bunch of the sisters tried to get us to go to class instead of crowding the breezeway, watching for Father Dom and Bryce to emerge from the principal's office. **

"Like people were actually going to leave when there's a chance for some hot gossip"

"For a moment Brad, you sounded like Suze"

"Shuddup!"

**Some people went when Sister Ernestine threatened everyone with detention, but not me. I didn't care if I got detention. **

"Suzie!"

**I had to make sure they were all right.**

"Well I guess that is acceptable. But you have to keep your record clean!"

**Sister Ernestine said something very nasty about how maybe Miss Simon didn't realize how unpleasant detention at the Mission Academy could be. **

"What? Is that vile woman, threatening my stepdaughter with corporal punishment?" Andy's eyes flashed dangerously. He too, disliked Sister Ernestine who he found to be very dictating when she wants to be.

**I assured Sister Ernestine that if she was threatening corporal punishment, I would tell my mother, who was a local news anchorwoman and would be over here with a TV camera so fast, nobody would have time to say so much as a single Hail Mary. **

Everyone laughed. "I bet that shut the old hag up" Brad said grinning.

**Sister Ernestine was pretty quiet after that. **

**It was shortly after this that I found Doc pressed up pretty close to me.**

"Why so close to Suze?" Brad asked David.

"Because I thought Sister Ernestine wouldn't bother me if I was close to Suze"

**I looked down and said, "What are **_**you **_**doing here?" since the little kids are supposed to stay way on the other side of the school. **

"**I want to see if he's all right" Doc's freckles were standing out, he was so pale. **

"**You're going to get in trouble" I warned him. Sister Ernestine was busily writing people up. **

"**I don't care" Doc said. "I want to see"**

"Aw, you're so adorable" Helen cooed causing David to blush lightly.

**I shrugged. He was a funny kid, that Doc. He wasn't anything like his big brothers, and it wasn't because of his red hair either. I remembered Dopey's teasing comment about the car keys and 'Dave's ghost', and wondered how much, if anything, Doc knew about what had been going on lately at his school. **

"I had a hunch but I wasn't sure for certain" David said adjusting his glasses.

"Get you Einstein" Brad teased.

**Finally, after what seemed like hours, they came out. Bryce was first, strapped on to a stretcher and moaning, I'm sorry to say, like a bit of a baby.**

"I told you he was" Jake said bored.

**I've had plenty of broken and dislocated bones, and believe me it hurts, but not enough to lie there moaning. Usually when I get hurt, I don't even notice. Like last night, for instance. When I'm **_**really **_**hurt all I can do I laugh because it hurts so much that it's actually funny.**

"What a freak!" Brad said laughingly.

"Yes, it can be a bit freakish" Helen admitted.

**Ok, I have to admit I sort of stopped liking Bryce so much when I saw him acting like such a baby...**

"Told you so"

"We know Jake, we know"

**Especially when I saw Father Dom, who the paramedics wheeled out next. He was unconscious; his white hair sort of flopped over in a sad way, a jagged cut, partially covered by gauze, over his right eye. **

Helen gasped horrified, Andy paled slightly and the boys bowed their heads down respectably.

**I hadn't eaten any breakfast in my haste to get to school, and I have to admit the sight of poor Father Dominic with his eyes closed and his glasses gone, made me feel a little woozy. In fact, I might have swayed a little on my feet, and probably would have fallen over if Doc hadn't grabbed my hand and said confidently. "I know. The sight of blood makes me sick, too" **

"Aw! You're so sweet looking out for Suze like that. I'm so proud of you" Helen said pulling David into a hug.

"Suck-up" Brad muttered darkly.

**But it wasn't the sight of Father Dom's blood seeping through the bandage on his head that made me sick. It was the realization that I had failed. I had failed miserably. It was only dumb blind luck that Heather hadn't succeeded in killing them both. It was only because of Father Dom's quick thinking that he and Bryce were still alive. It was no thanks to me. No thanks to me whatsoever. **

"True..."

**Because if I had handled things better the night before it wouldn't have happened. It wouldn't have happened at all. **

"Oh Suze, don't be so harsh on yourself" Andy said softly.

**That's when I got mad. I mean **_**really**_** mad. **

**Suddenly I knew what I had to do. I looked down at Doc. "Is there a computer here at school? One with internet access?"**

"Huh?"

"I know, sudden change in topic"

"**Sure" Doc said, looking surprised. "In the library. Why?"**

"Yeah, why?"

**I dropped his hand. "Never mind. Go back to class"**

"Tell me!"

"Brad, you're the one reading! You find out yourself!"

"**Suze-"**

"**Anyone who isn't in his or her classroom in one minute," Sister Ernestine said, imperiously, "will be suspended indefinitely!"**

"Such an insignificant thing, even in a moment of crisis should not be a cause for suspension" Andy said glaring at the book. "I may complain about her to the board of governors"

**Doc tugged on my sleeve. **

"**What's going on?" he wanted to know. "Why do you need a computer?"**

"**Nothing" I said. Behind the wrought-iron gate that led to the parking lot, the paramedics slammed the doors to the ambulances in which they'd loaded Father Dom and Bryce. A second later, they were pulling away in a whine of sirens and a flurry of flashing lights. "Just...it's stuff you wouldn't understand, David, it isn't scientific"**

"Oh, I bet that down well"

**Doc said, with no small amount of indignation. "I can understand lots of stuff that isn't scientific. Music, for instance. I've taught myself to play Chopin on my electronic keyboard back home. That isn't scientific. The appreciation of music is purely emotional as is the appreciation for art. I can understand art and music. So come on, Suze" he said. **

"Dude, you're such a geek" Jake said to his younger brother.

"I know" David said blushingly.

Jake reached over and ruffled David's hair. "Don't ever change" David smiled brightly up at his eldest brother.

"**You can tell me. Does it have anything to do with...what we were talking about the other night?"**

**I turned to gaze down at him in surprise. He shrugged. "It was a logical conclusion. I made a cursory examination of the stature – cursory because I was unable to approach it as closely as I would have liked thanks to the crime-scene tape and evidence team – and was unable to discern any saw marks or other indications of how the head severed. There is possible way bronze can be cut that cleanly without the use of some sort of heavy machinery, but such machinery would never fit through-"**

"A complete dork. No one but you knows this sort of stuff" Brad said shaking his head in disgust.

"**Mr Ackerman!" Sister Ernestine sounded like she meant business. "Would you like to be written up?"**

**David looked irritated. "No" he said. **

"**No, what?"**

"**No, Sister" he looked back at me, apologetically. "I guess I better go. But can we talk more about this tonight at home? I found out some stuff about – well, what you asked me. You know" he widened his eyes meaningfully. "About the house"**

"**Oh?" I said. "Great. Ok"**

"**Mr Ackerman!"**

**David turned to look at the nun. "Hold on a minute, ok, Sister? I'm trying to have a conversation here"**

"David! At least try to be a bit more polite!"

**All of the blood left the middle-aged woman's face. It was incredible. **

**She reacted as childishly as if she were the twelve-year-old and not David. **

"Uh-oh"

"**Come with me, young man" she said, seizing hold of David's ear. **

"SHE DID WHAT?!" Helen shrieked causing everyone to wince.

"That goes against all laws. No teacher is actually allowed to harm any student emotionally, mentally and physically" Andy growled. "First thing tomorrow morning, I will complain to the governors and petition for her to no longer have any to do with the students"

"Dad...Mom...i think you're overreacting a bit" David murmured.

"We're not! Darling, that woman had no right to touch you like that, at all!" Helen said comfortingly.

"She's right son" Andy said squeezing David's shoulder.

"**I can see your new stepsister has put some pretty big city ideas into your head about how a boy speaks to his elders-"**

"Oh! And now she's blaming my daughter!"

**David let out a noise like a wounded animal, but went along with the woman, hunched up like a shrimp, he was in so much pain. I swear I wouldn't have done anything – anything at all – if I hadn't suddenly noticed Heather standing just inside the gate, laughing her head off. **

"Great" Jake groaned.

"**Oh, God" she cried, gasping a little, she was laughing so hard. "If you could have seen your face when you heard Bryce was dead! I swear! It was the funniest thing I've ever seen!" she stopped laughing long enough to toss her long hair and say, "You know what? I think I'm going to clobber a few more people with stuff today. Maybe I'll start with that little guy over there-"**

"WHAT?!"

"You vindictive bitch, don't you even think of going near my little brother"

"How dare you! You...you...you dead slut! Not my baby boy, you stay away or I shall make your death a living misery!"

"You spoilt brat. Why not move on and leave everyone in peace!"

"Yo, calm down and hear what Suze said" Brad said rolling his eyes at his families antics.

**I stepped towards her. "You lay one hand on my brother, and I'll stuff you right back into that grave you crawled out of"**

Jake chuckled, David flushed with a mixture of delight and embarrassment and Andy and Helen smiled.

**Heather only laughed, but Sister Ernestine, who I realized belatedly, thought I was talking to her, let go of David so fast you'd have thought the kid had suddenly caught on fire. **

"Good, I hope she stays away from David as well as that spoilt brat"

"_**What did you say?"**_

**Sister Ernestine was turning sort of purple. Behind her, Heather laughed delightedly. "Oh, now you've done it. Detention for a week!"**

"Strangely enough...i don't think that will happen" Jake said smiling. "If I remember correctly, Suze didn't get a first detention for a very long time"

**And just like that, she disappeared, leaving behind yet another mess for me to clean up. **

**As much to my surprise as, I think her own, Sister Ernestine could only stare at me. David stood there rubbing his ear and looking bewildered. I said as quickly as I could, "We'll go back to our classroom now. We were only concerned about Father Dominic, and wanted to see him off. Thanks, Sister"**

Everyone was in a mixture of laughter, snorting and grinning as Brad continued to read.

**Sister Ernestine continued to stare at me. She didn't say anything. She was a big lady, not quite as tall as me in my two-inch heels – I was wearing black Batgirl boots – but much wider, with exceptionally large breasts. Between them dangled a silver cross. Sister Ernestine fingered this cross unconsciously as she stared at me. Later, Adam, who'd watched the entire event unfold, would say that Sister Ernestine was holding the cross as if to protect herself from me. That is untrue. **

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was true. Suze can act like the anti-Christ on her bad days"

**She merely touched the cross as if uncertain it was still there. Which it was. It most certainly was. **

**I guess that was when David stopped being Doc to me, and started being David. **

"What, it only took David two days while it takes me and Sleepy over there, how long? Months before she quits slipping up"

"**Don't worry" I told him, just before we parted ways because he looked so worried and cute and all with his red hair and freckles and sticky-outy ears. I reached out and rumpled some of that red hair. "Everything will be all right"**

"So sweet!" Helen cooed everyone rolled their eyes.

**David looked up at me. "How do you know?" he asked. **

**I took my hand away. **

**Because, of course, the truth was I didn't. Know everything was going to be all right, I mean. Far from it, as matter of fact. **

"And that's the end"

"I don't like it. It's too ominous again. And creepy" David said frowning as he took the book from Brad. "I hope the next entry is better"


	15. Chapter 15

_Author's Note: Mira's Christmas present!_

**Lunch was almost over by the time I cornered Adam. I had spent the entire period in the library staring into a computer monitor. I still hadn't eaten, but the truth was, I wasn't hungry at all. **

"I wouldn't be either if I saw what she saw"

"Don't lie Brad" Andy said. "We all know you would eat a five course meal even if you were watching the most gruesome film made"

"**Hey" I said, sitting down next to him and crossing my legs so that my black skirt hiked up just the littlest bit.**

The boys groaned. "Oh yuck, I don't want to hear about Suze flirting with the fag!" Brad wailed.

"Bradley, language!"

"**Did you drive to school this morning?"**

**Adam pounded on his chest. He started choking on a Frito the minute I'd sat down. When he finally got it down, **

"Evil manipulative she-witch!"

"Nah, she's just female"

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry Mom"

**He said proudly, "I sure did. Now that I got my licence, I am a driving machine. You should've come out with us last night, Suze. We had a blast. After we went out to the Coffee Clutch, we took a spin along Seventeen Mile Drive. Have you ever done that? Man, with last night's moon, the ocean was so beautiful-"**

"**Would you mind driving me somewhere after school?"**

**Adam stood up fast, scaring two fat seagulls that had been sitting near the bench he was sharing with Cee Cee. "Are you kidding me? Where do you want to go? You name it, Suze, I'll take you there. Vegas? You want to go to Vegas? No problem. I mean, I'm sixteen, you're sixteen. We can get married there easily. My parents'll let us live with them, no problem. You don't mind sharing my room, do you? I mean I'll pick up after myself from now on-"**

"What. An. Idiot"

"I agree, also there is no way in hell would I let my stepdaughter get married until she finished High School at least"

"**Adam" Cee Cee said. "Don't be such a spaz I highly doubt she wants to marry you"**

"There's that too. Who on earth would want to marry the fag?"

"_Bradley!"_

"**I don't think it's a good idea to marry anyone until my divorce from my first husband is finalized" I said gravely.**

Everyone laughed.

"**What I want to do it go to the hospital and see Bryce" **

**Adam's shoulders slumped. "Oh" he said. There was no missing dejection in his voice. "Is that all?"**

**I realized I'd said the wrong thing. Still, I couldn't unsay it. Fortunately, Cee Cee helped me out by saying thoughtfully, "You know, a story about Bryce and Father Dominic bravely battling back from their wounds wouldn't be a bad idea for the paper. Would you mind if I tagged along, Suze?"**

"See! She's evil! No empathy to the wounded at all! It's all about the story!"

"We get it Brad, now shut up!"

"**Not at all." A lie of course, with Cee Cee along, it might be difficult to accomplish what I wanted without a lot of explaining...**

"Hang on" Brad eyed the book with suspicion. "What is she trying to do?"

"Well if you let us read, we might find out"

**But what choice did I have? None. **

**Once I'd secured my ride, I started looking for Sleepy. I found him dozing with his back to the monkey bars.**

"It was boring without Bryce to listen to...and cooler with the shade"

"Hang on, Jake, didn't you say that Bryce did nothing but moan?" Andy asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but it was like having a nice radio droning on"

**I nudged him awake with the toe of my boot. When he squinted up at me through his sunglasses, I told him not to wait for me after school, that I'd found my own ride. He grunted, and went back to sleep. **

Helen glared at Jake. "You could try to be a little more caring about your siblings"

"I was tired!"

**Then I went and found a pay phone. It's weird when you don't know your own mother's phone number. I mean, I still knew our number back in Brooklyn, but I didn't have the slightest idea what my new phone number was.**

"Don't worry, Brad still doesn't know our number now" David said staring at his older brother pityingly.

"Hey!"

**Good thing I'd written it in my date book.**

"Brad doesn't even bother writing it down"

**I consulted the S's – for Simon – and found my new number, and dialled it. I knew no one was home, but I wanted to cover all my bases. I told the answering machine that I might be late getting back from school since I was going out with a couple new friends. **

"I never got a message though" Helen said frowning.

Andy looked a little sheepish. "I might have accidentally...deleted it...." he mumbled.

Helen sighed. "God help me, I married an idiot"

**My mother, I knew, would be delighted when she got back from the station and heard it. She always worried back in Brooklyn, that I was anti-social. She'd always go, "Suzie, you're such a pretty girl. I just don't understand why no boys ever call you. Maybe if you didn't look so...well, tough. How about giving the leather jacket a rest?"**

"Like that was ever going to happen" Brad snorted.

"I had to try!" Helen protested.

**She probably have died of joy if she could have been in the parking lot after school and heard Adam as I approached his car. **

"Well that's a bit extreme...i would have just been happy"

"**Oh, Cee, here she is" Adam flung open the passenger door of his car – which turned out to be one of the new Volkswagen Beetles; I guess Adam's parents weren't hurting for money – and shooed Cee Cee into the back seat. "Come on, Suze, you sit right up front with me"**

**I peered through my sunglasses – as usual, the morning fog had burned away, and now at three o'clock the sun beat down hard from a perfectly clear blue sky – at Cee Cee squashed in the back seat. "Um, really" I said. "Cee Cee was here first. I'll sit in the back. I don't mind at all"**

"**I won't hear of it" Adam stood by the door, holding it open for me. "You're the new girl. The new girl gets to sit in the front"**

"God, he's so obvious" Jake said looking disgusted.

"I take it, he, Jesse and Bryce are on your to kill list" David said amused.

"No Jesse is off it for now because he saved Suze....but if he tries anything...." Jake made a violent gesture along with a growl.

Helen and Andy tried their hardest to not laugh.

"**Yeah" Cee Cee said from the depths of the back seat, "until you refuse to sleep with him. Then he'll relegate you to the back seat too"**

Brad roared with laughter while the others rolled their eyes.

**Adam said, in a **_**Wizard of Oz**_** voice, "Ignore that man behind the curtain"**

More laughter from Brad.

**I slid into the front seat, and Adam politely closed the door for me. **

"**Are you serious?" I turned around to ask Cee Cee as Adam made his way round the car to the driver's seat. **

**Cee Cee blinked at me from behind her protective lenses. "Do you really think anybody would sleep with **_**him**_**?"**

Brad was holding on to his sides, now, still laughing.

**I digested that. "I take it," I said, "that's a no, then"**

"**Damned straight" Cee Cee said just as Adam slid behind the wheel. **

Brad began to choke on his own laughter and started coughing. Jake sighing, smacked him on the back until he stopped. "Better now?" Brad nodded, wiping at the tears falling down his cheeks, furiously.

"**Now" the driver said, flexing his dingers experimentally before switching on the ignition. "I'm thinking this whole thing with the stature and Father Dom and Bryce has really stressed us all out. My parents have a hot tub, you know, which is really ideal for stress like the kind we've all been through today, and I suggest that we all go to my place first for a soak..."**

"No"

"**Tell you what" I said. "Let's skip the hot tub this time, and just go straight to the hospital. Maybe, if there's time later-"**

"**Yes" Adam looked heavenwards. "There **_**is**_** a god"**

**Cee Cee said, from the backseat, "She said **_**maybe**_**, numbskull. God try to control yourself" **

**Adam glanced at me as he eased out of his parking space. "Am I coming on too strong?"**

"Yes, too strong"

"**Uh" I said. "Maybe..."**

"**The thing is, it's been so long since even a remotely interesting girl has shown up around here" Adam, I saw with some relief was a very careful driver – not like Sleepy, who seemed to think stop signs actually said pause. **

Jake visibly shrunk at his parents glares. "I think," Andy said, "we'll be having a long talk about driving and safety after this"

"**I mean, I've been surrounded by Kelly Prescotts and Debbie Mancusos for sixteen years. It's such a relief to have a Susannah Simon around for a change. You**_** decimated**_** Kelly this morning when you went, 'hmm, do angels leave blood stains? I don't **_**think**_** so'"**

**Adam went on in this vein for the rest of the trip to the hospital. I wasn't quite sure how Cee Cee could stomach it. Unless I was mistaken she felt the same way about him that he evidently felt about me. Only I didn't think his crush on me was very serious – if it had been, he wouldn't have been able to joke about it. **

"True" Jake said doubtfully.

"Very true" Helen said confidently.

**Cee Cee's crush on him, however, looked to me like the real thing. Oh, she was able to tease him and even insult him, but I looked into the rear-view mirror a couple times and caught her looking at the back of his head just in a manner that could only be called besotted.**

"Urgh, geek love" Brad said scrunching his nose up in disgust.

"I think it's sweet" Helen cooed.

**But just when she was sure he wasn't looking. **

**When Adam pulled up in front of the Carmel hospital, I thought he had stopped at a country club or a private house by mistake. Ok, a really big private house, but hey, you should have seen some of the places in the Valley. **

"Yes, it's so beautiful" Helen said dreamily.

**But then I saw a discreet little sign that said Hospital. We piled out of the car and wandered through an immaculately kept garden, where flower beds were bursting with blossoms. Hummingbirds buzzed all around, and I spotted some more of those palm trees I'd been sure I never see so far north of the equator. **

Everyone snickered and rolled their eyes at Suze's stubbornness.

**At the information desk, I asked for Bryce Martinson's room. I wasn't sure he'd been admitted actually, but I knew from experience – unfortunately first hand – that any accident in which a head wound might have occurred generally required an overnight stay for observation – and I was right. Bryce was there, and so was Father Dominic, conveniently situated right across the hall from one another. **

"Yes, that is a bit too convenient" Andy said.

"It's probably because they were brought in together, you're as bad as your son when it comes to conspiracies" Helen said rolling her eyes.

**We weren't the only people visiting these particular patients – not by a long shot. Bryce's room was packed. There wasn't apparently, any limit on just how many people could crowd into a patient's room, and Bryce looked as if it contained most of the Junipero Serra Mission Academy's senior class.**

"But me" Jake said sighing. "I had to take these two horrors back home, do some homework, do the shift after dinner and then get some Zs before school"

"Who are you calling horrors? David is-"

"Brad, don't insult you little brother" Andy interrupted. "David, continue reading"

**In the middle of the sunny, cheerful room – where on every flat surface rested vases filled with flowers – lay Bryce in a shoulder cast, his right arm hanging from a pulley over his bed. He looked a lot better than he had that morning, mostly, I suppose, because he was pumped full of painkillers. When he saw me in the doorway, this big goofy smile broke out over his face and he went, "Suze!"**

**Only he pronounced it "Soo-oo-ooze", so it sounded like it had more than one syllable. **

The boys laughed.

"**Uh, hi, Bryce" I said, suddenly shy. Everybody in the room had turned to see who Bryce was talking to. Most of them were girls. They all did that thing a lot of girls do – they looked me over from the top of my head – I hadn't showered that morning because I'd been running so late, so I was not exactly having a good hair day – to the soles of my feet. **

"Urgh" the guys groaned.

**Then they smirked. **

The boys groaned even more and Helen glared at the book.

**Not so Bryce would have noticed. But they did. **

**And even though I could not have cared less what a bunch of girls I had never met before, and would probably never meet again, thought of me, I blushed. **

"Wow..." Brad said blinkingly. "I never thought I'd see a shy Suze..."

"**Everybody" Bryce said. He sounded drunk, but pleasantly so. "This is Suze, Suze, this is everybody"**

"**Uh" I said. "Hi"**

**One of the girls, who was sitting on the end of Bryce's bed in a very white, wrinkle-free linen dress, went. "Oh, you're that girl who saved his life yesterday. Jake's new stepsister"**

"**Yeah" I said. "That's me" there was no way – no way – I was going to be able to ask Bryce what I needed to ask him with all these people in the room. Cee Cee had steered Adam off into Father Dom's room in order to give me some time alone with Bryce, but it looked as if she'd done so in vain. There was no way I was going to get a minute with this guy alone. Not unless...**

**Well, not unless I asked for it. **

Jake winced. "They're not going to take that well"

"**Hey" I said. "I need to talk to Bryce for a second. Do you guys mind?"**

**The girl in the end of the bed looked taken aback. "So talk to him. **_**We're**_** not stopping you"**

"Snotty cow" Helen muttered darkly much to the surprise of her stepsons who stared at her in shock for a moment or two.

**I looked her right in the eye and said, in my firmest mediation voice, "I need to talk to him **_**alone**_**"**

**Somebody whistled low and long. Nobody else moved. At least until Bryce went, "Hey you guys. You heard her. Get out"**

**Thank God for morphine, that's all I have to say. **

"Yeah...it actually gives him a backbone" Jake muttered.

**Grudgingly, the senior class filed out, everybody casting me dirty looks but Bryce, who lifted a hand connected to what looked like an IV and went, "Hey, Suze, C'mere and look at this"**

**I approached the bed. Now that we were the only people in it, I was able to see that Bryce had a very large room. It was also very cheerful, painted yellow, with a window that looked out over the garden outside. **

"**See what I got?" Bryce showed me a palm-sized instrument with a button on top of it. "My own pain killer pump. Anytime I feel pain, I just hit this button, and it releases codeine. Right into my bloodstream. Cool, huh?"**

"Jesus Christ, the idiot is drugged up because he can't cope with neither physical nor mental pain. Heather is drugging him to death!"

**The guy was gone. That was obvious. Suddenly I didn't think my mission was going to be so hard, after all. **

"**That's great, Bryce" I said. "I was real sorry to hear about your accident"**

"**Yeah" he giggled fatuously. "Too bad you weren't there. You might've been able to save me like you did yesterday"**

"**Yes" I said, clearing my throat uncomfortably. "You certainly do seem accident-prone these days"**

"Poor sod"

"**Yeah" his eyelids drifted closed, and for one panicky minute, I thought he'd gone to sleep. Then he opened his eyes and looked at me kind of sadly. "Suze, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it"**

"You're flipping kidding me?"

"What a baby!"

**I stared at him. God, what a baby! **

"Told you so"

"**Of course you're going to make it. You've got a busted collarbone, is all. You'll be better in no time"**

**He giggled. "No, no. I mean, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it to our date on Saturday night"**

"**Oh" I said blinking. "Oh, no, of course not. I didn't think so. Listen Bryce, I need to ask you a favour. You're going to think it's weird-" actually doped up as he was, I doubted he'd think it weird at all. "- but I was wondering back when you and Heather were going out, did she ever, um, give you anything?"**

"Eh?"

"What is she up to?"

"How should I know? I'm just reading the book"

**He blinked at me groggily. "Give me anything? You mean like a present?"**

"**Yes"**

"**Well, yeah. She got me a cashmere sweater vest for Christmas"**

**I nodded. A cashmere sweater vest wasn't going to do any good. **

"Any good for what?"

"**Ok. Anything else? Maybe...a picture of herself?"**

"What does she need a picture for?"

"I don't know! Let me read, Brad!"

"**Oh" he said. "Sure, sure, she gave me her school picture"**

"**She did?" I tried to not look too excited. "Any chance you've got it on you? In your wallet maybe?" it was a gamble, I knew, but most people only clean out their wallets once a year or so...**

"Yeah, Bryce probably still has Heather's photo, he never cleans his wallet out unless she nagged him too" Jake said shaking his head.

**He screwed up his face. I guess thinking must have been painful for him since I saw him give himself a couple pumps of painkiller. **

"Idiot! Emotional pain can't be cured by drugs!"

"Silly boy" Helen said shaking her head.

**Then his face relaxed. "Sure" he said. "I still got her picture. My wallet's in that drawer there"**

**I opened the drawer to the table beside his bed. His wallet was indeed there, a slim black leather deal. I lifted it up and opened it. Heather's photo was jammed between a gold American Express card and a ski lift ticket. It showed her looking extremely glam, with all her long blonde hair flowing over one shoulder, staring coquettishly into the camera. In my school pictures, I always look like somebody just yelled "Fire!" I couldn't believe this guy, who'd been dating a girl who looked like that, would bother asking a girl like me out. **

"Yeah, I can't work that one out either" Brad said.

"I have you know, Suzie is a very attractive girl" Helen sniffed. "Especially when she dresses up nicely"

"**Can I borrow this picture?" I asked. "I just need it for a little while. I'll give it right back" this was a lie, but I didn't figure he'd give it to me otherwise. **

"Why does she need that photo so badly?"

"**Sure, sure" he said, waving a hand. **

"**Thanks" I slipped the photo into my backpack just as a tall woman in her forties came striding in wearing a lot of gold jewellery and carrying a box of pastries. **

"Ah, Mrs Martinson" Jake said. "Nice, but she has a habit of forgetting your name and not really caring much beyond that shallow image...no wonder Bryce turned out the way he was. Probably went through nanny after nanny"

"**Bryce, darling" she said. "Where did all your little friends go? I went all the way to the patisserie to get some snacks"**

"What's wrong with baking?" Andy asked.

"Honey, not all of us are super-cooks like you" Helen said.

"**Oh, they'll be back in a minute, Mom" Bryce said, sleepily. "This is Suze. She saved my life yesterday"**

**Mrs Martinson held out a smooth, tanned right hand. "Lovely to meet you, Susan" she said, **

"IT'S SUSANNAH! I NAME MY LITTLE GIRL SUSANNAH, NOT SOMETHING BORING LIKE SUSAN!"

Everyone stared at Helen in shock.

"Ah, too many teachers, policemen, strangers, kept making the same mistake" Helen said sheepishly. "It gets rather frustrating when no one calls your daughter by the right name"

**Giving my fingers the slightest of squeezes. "Can you believe what happened to poor little Bryce? His father's furious. As if things hadn't been going badly enough, what with that wretched girl – well you know. And now this. I swear, it's like that academy is cursed, or something"**

"Yeah, Mrs Martinson never did like Heather" Jake said rather gleefully. "She always thought Bryce should wait until college to look for a girlfriend. Preferably a true Christian that would wait until after marriage"

"Like that's ever going to happen in this day and age" David said sceptically. "The statistics of sex be-"

"We don't want to know" Brad interrupted yawning. "Keep reading"

**I said, "Yes. Well nice to meet you. I'd better be going"**

**Nobody protested against my departure – Mrs Martinson because she couldn't care less, and Bryce because he had fallen asleep. **

**I found Adam and Cee Cee standing outside a room across the hall. As I walked up to them, Cee Cee put a finger to her lips. "Listen" she said. **

**I did as she asked. **

"**It simply couldn't have come at a worse time" a familiar voice – male, older – was saying. "What with the archbishop's visit not two weeks away-"**

Everyone groaned knowing full well that it would only be the monsignor.

"**I'm so sorry Constantine" Father Dominic's voice sounded weak. "I know what a strain this must all be to you"**

"**And Bryce Martinson, of all people! Do you know who his father is? Only one of the best trial lawyers in the Salinas!"**

"Did the school ever get sued?" Jake asked interestedly.

"No, the damage of the school seemed to be revenge enough in the Martinsons mind" Andy said.

"**Father Dom is getting reemed" Adam whispered to me. "Poor old guy"**

"Yeah...poor Father D"

"**I wish he'd tell Monsignor Constantine to just go and jump in a lake" Cee Cee's purple eyes flashed. "Dried up, crusty old-"**

Brad and Jake erupted into snickers.

**I whispered. "Let's see if we can help him out. Maybe you guys could distract the monsignor. Then I'll just see if Father Dom needs anything. You know. Just real quick before we go"**

**Cee Cee shrugged. "Fine with me"**

"**I'm game" Adam said. **

**So I called, loudly, "Father Dominic?" and banged into the father's hospital room. **

**The room wasn't as big as Bryce's or as cheerful. The walls were beige, not yellow, and there was only one vase with flowers in it. The window looked out, as near as I could tell, over the parking lot. And nobody had hooked Father Dominic up to any self-pumped painkiller machine. I don't know what kind of insurance priests have, but it was nowhere as good as it should have been. **

"No it doesn't...it sounds awful that there is such favouritism because of insurance" David said sympathetically. "You know, in Great Britain they have NHS which insures that everyone, no matter what insurance they have, will get free health care"

"Sounds nice...with Suzie's accidents it would be nice to have something like the NHS" Helen said.

**To say that Father Dominic looked surprised to see me would have been an understatement. His mouth dropped open. **

"Don't know why, everyone should be wanting to visit Father Dom, especially the younger years" Brad said frowning.

"I went to see him" David said, "Dad took me the next day. He was very surprised, I don't think he expects kids to actually want to see him. He doesn't seem to understand that he is very popular"

**He seemed perfectly incapable of saying anything. But that was ok because Cee Cee came bustling in after me and went, "Oh, Monsignor! Great. We've been looking all over for you. we'd like to do an exclusive, if that's ok, on how last night's act of vandalism is going to affect the upcoming visit of the archbishop. Adversely, right? Do you have any comments? Maybe you could step out here into the hallway where my associate and I can-"**

**Looking flustered, Monsignor Constantine followed Cee Cee out of the door with an irritated, "Now see here, young lady-"**

Everyone laughed.

**I sauntered over to Father Dominic's side. I wasn't exactly excited to see him. I mean, I knew he probably wasn't too happy with me. I was the one whom Heather had thrown Father Serra's head at, and I figured he probably knew it, and probably wasn't feeling too warmly towards me. **

"Nah, Father D is a forgiving soul"

**That's what I figured, anyway. But of course, I figured wrong. I'm pretty good at figuring out what dead people are thinking, but I haven't quite gotten the hang of the living yet.**

"Very backwards that is"

"**Susannah" Father Dominic said in his gentle voice. "What are you doing here? Is everything all right? I've been very concerned about you-"**

**I guess I should have expected it. Father Dominic wasn't sore at me at all. Just worried, that was all. But **_**he**_** was the one who needed worrying over. Aside from the nasty gash above one eye, his colour was off. He looked grey, and much older than he actually was. Only his eyes, blue as the sky outside looked like they always did, bright and filled with intelligent good humour. **

**Still it made me mad all over again, seeing him like that. Heather didn't know it, but she was in for it, and how. **

Everyone winced. "Oh, she's doomed all right" Brad said shuddering.

"**Me?" I stared at him. "What are you worried about **_**me**_** for? **_**I'm **_**not the one who got clobbered by a crucifix this morning"**

"Because you almost died the night before! And he actually does care about you Suzie"

**Father Dom smiled ruefully. "No but I believe you do have a little explaining to do. Why didn't you tell me, Susannah? Why didn't you tell me what you had in mind? If I had known you planned on showing up at the Mission alone in the middle of the night. I never would have allowed it"**

"Which is why she didn't tell you, duh!"

"**Exactly why I didn't tell you" I said. "Look, Father, I'm sorry about the stature and Mr Walden's door and all that. But I had to try talking to her myself, don't you see? Woman to woman. I didn't know she was going to go postal on me"**

"What did you expect? For her to suddenly become your best friend and gossip about boys?"

"Brad, quit the sarcasm, please"

"**What did you expect? Susannah, you saw what she tried to do to that young man yesterday-"**

"**Yeah, but I could understand that. I mean, she loved him. She's really mad at him. I didn't think she'd try to go after **_**me.**_** I mean, **_**I **_**had nothing to do with it. I just tried to let her know her options-"**

"**Which is what I'd been doing ever since she first showed up at the Mission"**

"**Right. But Heather's not liking any of the options we've put before her. I'm telling you, the girl's gone loco. She's quiet now because she thinks she killed Bryce, and she probably all tuckered out, but in a little while she's going to perk up again and God only knows what she'll do next now that she knows what she's capable of"**

Everyone shuddered.

**Father Dominic looked at me curiously, his concern over the archbishop's impending visit forgotten. "What do you mean 'now that she knows what she's capable of'?"**

"**Well, last night was just a dress rehearsal. We can expect bigger and better things from Heather now that she knows what she can do"**

**Father Dominic shook his head confused. "Have you seen her today? How do you know all this?"**

"Tell him! He needs to know about that vile woman's threat about David so he can sort it out quickly!"

**I couldn't tell Father Dominic about Jesse. I really couldn't. It wasn't any of his business, for one thing. **

"Suzie!"

"She's sorta right though"

"But still!"

**But I also had an idea it might kind of shock him, knowing there was a guy living in my bedroom, I mean. Father Dom was a priest and all. **

"Yeah there's that..."

"**Look" I said. "I've been giving this a lot of thought, and I don't see any other way. You've tried to reason with her, and so have I. And look where it's gotten us. You're in the hospital, and I'm having to look over my shoulder everywhere I go. I think it's time to settle the matter once and for all"**

Everyone looked confused. "What does she mean?" Brad asked.

**Father Dom blinked at me. "What do you mean, Susannah? What are you talking about?"**

"Yeah, tell us!"

"Brad, you won't know if you keep interrupting!"

"But I wanna know now!"

**I took a deep breath. "I'm talking about what we mediators do as a last resort"**

"What do you mean last resort? What do mediators do as a last resort?"

**He still looked confused. "Las resort? I'm afraid I don't know what you mean"**

"**I'm talking" I said, "about an exorcism"**

"EH?! WHAT'S THAT?" Brad shouted loudly.

Jake flinched. "Jeez Brad, I thought I told you not to shout down my ear. How stupid are you? Haven't you seen The Exorcist?"

"Oooooooooooooooooh" Brad said as the realization drew on him.

"Oh, god, what trouble is my baby girl putting herself into now?" Helen asked biting her lip fearfully.

Jake and David exchanged knowingly looks. They had a funny feeling they knew all to well what trouble Suze put herself in and that they will be getting a grounding of al lifetime for not telling their parents.


	16. Chapter 16

_Author's Note: a Christmas present for Deannie!_

Andy took the book once more and cleared his throat before reading.

"**Out of the question" said Father Dominic.**

"**Look" I said. "I don't see any other way. She won't go willingly, we both know that. She's too dangerous to let hang around indefinitely. I think we're going to have to give her a push"**

"I agree" Helen said, her hand shaking in anger. "That childish brat threatened two of my babies!"

**Father Dominic looked away from me and started staring bleakly at a spot on the ceiling above our heads. "That isn't what we're here for, people like you and me, Susannah" he said in the saddest voice I had ever heard. "We are the sentries who guard the gates of the afterlife. **

"God help us" Brad muttered.

**We are the ones who help guide lost souls to their final destination. And every single one of the spirits I've helped have passed my gate quite willingly..."**

**Yeah. And if you clap hard enough, Tinkerbell won't die. **

"Susannah!" Helen shrieked in horror. "Be more polite!"

The boys snickered.

**It must, I thought, have been nice to see the world through Father Dom's eyes. It seemed like a nice place. A lot better than the world **_**I'd**_** lived in for the past sixteen years. **

"Oh Suzie" both Helen's face and voice softened at that. It both hurt and angered her that she hadn't been able to be there for her only daughter. Oh, she wasn't angry at Suze, not at all, she was angry at herself for putting her daughter through so much, therapy being one of them.

Andy took her hand and gently stroked it with his thumb. "It's not your fault" he reminded her just as gently as his touch.

Helen smiled sadly at him before leaning up and kissing his lips quickly.

The boys groaned in disgust. "PDA! What have we told you about that?" Brad spat out. "My eyes need cleaning out now!"

"**Yes" I said. "Well I don't see any other way"**

"**An exorcism" Father Dom murmured. He said the word like it was distasteful, like mucus, or something. **

"Probably is" Brad muttered.

"**Look," I said, beginning to regret I said anything. "Believe me, it's not a method I recommend. But I don't see that we have much choice. Heather's not just a danger to Bryce any more" I didn't want to tell him what she'd said about David. **

"Why not?" Jake demanded to know.

**I could just see him jumping out of bed and hollering for a pair of crutches.**

"Ah...yeah...that would have been stupid..."

**But since I had already let spill what I was planning, I had to let him know why I felt such an extreme was necessary. "She's a danger to the whole school" I said. "She's got to be stopped"**

"Definitely!"

"I agree"

"Here, here!"

**He nodded. "Yes. Yes, of course, you're right. But Susannah, you've got to promise me you won't try it until I've been released.**

"All right, how much do you want to bet that she will try it before Father D is released?" Brad asked his brothers.

David pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Brad, neither me nor Jake are stupid enough to take that bet. We know our stepsister's stubbornness very well, thank you"

Brad eyed his younger brother. "You know something"

David flushed slightly. "N-n-no I know nothing" he stuttered slightly. "Keep reading, Dad"

Andy stared at his son with suspicion but decided not to ask anything. He was most likely going to find out what David is hiding at the end of this diary anyway.

**I was talking to the doctor, and she says she might let me go as early as Friday. That will give us plenty of time to research the proper methodology-" he glanced at his bedside table. "Hand me that Bible there, would you, Susannah? If we can get the wording correctly, we just might-"**

"I don't think Suze needs research..."

**I handed him the Bible. "I'm pretty sure," I said, "that I've got it down pat"**

**He lifted his gaze, pining me with those baby blues of his. Too bad he was so old and a priest, besides. I wondered how many hearts he'd broken back before he gotten his calling. "How could you possibly," he wondered, "have gotten anything as complicated as a Roman Catholic exorcism down pat?"**

"It's probably not a Roman Catholic one" Helen said sighing.

"What? How many could there be?" Brad asked.

"Brad, that's like asking how many religions can there be?"

**I fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well, I wasn't really planning on doing the Roman Catholic version"**

"**Is there another?"**

"See! Even Father D is siding with me!"

"Father Dominic is a priest. He would know his faith better than anything else; he actually has an excuse to be a bit blind to other faiths"

"Stop making me look dumb, David!"

"I don't have to...you're doing it yourself well enough"

Brad flushed angrily and Jake chuckled. "Nice one little man" he said approvingly to a blushing and pleased David.

"**Oh, sure. Most religions have one. Personally, I prefer Mecumba. It's pretty much to the point. No long incantations or anything"**

"Mecumba?"

**He looked pained. "Mecumba?"**

"**Sure. Brazilian voodoo. I got it off the Net. All you need is some chicken blood and a-"**

"Chicken blood?!" Brad turned a faint green.

Andy looked at him, rather amused. "Don't be prejudiced Brad, I use it in cooking once or twice"

Brad turned even greener. "Oh, I think I'm going to be sick" he muttered causing Jake to move away from him.

"**Mary, Mother of God" Father Dominic interrupted. Then, when he'd recovered himself, he said. "Out of the question. Heather Chambers was baptized a Roman Catholic, and despite the cause of her death, she deserves a Roman Catholic exorcism, if not burial. Her chances of being admitted into heaven at this point aren't great, I'll admit,**

"At least he knows that now" Jake muttered. "Heather hadn't had a chance to heaven since she was fourteen. That is no innocent, good Catholic girl"

**But I certainly intend to see that she gets every opportunity to greet St Peter at the **

"**Father Dom" I said. "I really don't think it matters whether she gets a Roman Catholic exorcism, or a Pygmy one, for that matter. The fact is, if there is a heaven, there's no way Heather Chambers is getting in there"**

"Unbelievable!" Brad said half disgusted, half amused. "They're debating religion stuff under the guise of getting rid off a ghost. How pathetic can you get?"

"Brad, be respectful!"

**Father Dominic made a **_**tut-tutting**_** noise. "Susannah, how can you say such a thing? There is good in everyone. Surely even you can see that"**

"Ooh, she's not going to like that"

"**Even me? What do you mean even me?"**

"**Well, I mean even Susannah Simon, who can be very hard on others, must see that even in the cruellest human being there can exist a flower of good. Maybe just the tiniest blossom, in need of water and sunlight, but a flower just the same"**

Brad spluttered with laughter while everyone glared at him.

"I think...Brad's flower is still a seed" David said sharply.

Brad stopped laughing.

**I wondered what kind of painkillers Father Dom was on. **

All three boys snickered at that while their parents smiled.

**I said, "Well, ok, Father. All I know is, wherever Heather's going, it ain't heaven. If there**_** is**_** a heaven"**

**He smiled at me sadly. "I wish," he said, "you had half as much faith in the good Lord, Susannah, as you have courage. **

"I doubt she ever will"

**Listen to me now for a moment. You mustn't – you **_**must not **_**– attempt to stop Heather on your own. It is extremely clear that she very nearly killed you last night. I could not believe my eyes when I walked out and saw the damage she caused. You were lucky to escape with your life. And it is clear from what happened this morning that, like you say, she is only growing stronger. It would be stupid – criminally stupid – of you to try to do anything on your own again"**

"Yes, Suzie, I'm begging you please listen to Father Dominic" Helen said pleadingly. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you"

"Ma, you're talking to a book"

"I don't care!" Helen snapped causing Brad to edge away in fear. An angry Helen reminded him too much of Suze.

**I knew he was right. What's more, if I really did go through with the exorcism thing, I couldn't let Jesse help me...the exorcism might send him back to his maker, right along with Heather. **

Helen's anger drained a little. "She's beginning to care about whether or not he stays!" she said happily.

The men rolled their eyes.

"**Besides" Father Dominic said, "There isn't any reason to hurry is there? now that she's managed to hospitalize Bryce, she won't be up to any more mischief – at least not until he comes back to school. He seems to be the only person she entertains murderous feelings towards-"**

"Suzie, this is you chance! Tell him about Heather, now!"

**I didn't say anything. How could I? I mean, the poor guy looked so pathetic lying there. I didn't want to give him more to worry about. **

Everyone sighed.

**But the truth was I couldn't possibly wait for Father Dom to get out of the hospital. Heather meant business. With every day that passed she would only get stronger and nastier, and more filled with hate. I had to get rid of her, and I had to get rid of her soon. **

"Sad thing is she's telling the truth. She has to put herself in danger to save everyone else" David said sadly.

**So I committed what I'm sure must be some kind of mortal sin. I lied to a priest. **

The Ackermans gasped in horror while Helen was not as bothered at that small so-called sin.

"I'm not Catholic" she said answering David's questioning gaze.

"But it's Father D!" Brad protested. "Who can lie to him?"

**Good thing I'm not Catholic. **

"**Don't worry Father Dom" I said. "I'll wait till you're feeling better"**

**Father Dominic was no dummy, though. He went, "Promise me, Susannah"**

**I said, "I promise"**

**I had my fingers crossed, of course. I hoped that, if there was a god, this would cancel out the sin of lying to one of his most deserving servants. **

"So, Suze has some faith. Even if it's a little bit"

"**Let me see" Father Dominic was murmuring. "We'll need holy water, of course. That's no problem. And of course a crucifix"**

**As he was muttering over his exorcism grocery list, **

The boys snickered at Suze's wording again.

**Adam and Cee Cee came into the room. **

"**Hey, Father Dom" Adam said. "Boy, do you look terrible"**

"Oh charming!" Helen said. "He has the same tact as Suze has"

**Cee Cee elbowed him. "**_**Adam**_**" she hissed. Then to the father, she said brightly, "Don't listen to him, Father Dom. I think you look great. Well, for a guy with a bunch of broken bones, I mean"**

Helen sighed. "And it appears Cee Cee has very little tact as well"

"**Children" Father Dominic looked really happy to see them.**

"Of course he will Father D loves kids"

"**What a delight! But why are you wasting a beautiful afternoon like this one visiting an old man in hospital? You ought to be down at the beach enjoying the nice weather"**

"I wish I could have a chance to visit Father Dom, but neither Mom nor Dad had the time to take me and Jake was always busy as well" David said sadly. "Sounds like he was rather lonely"

"**We're actually here doing an article for the **_**Mission News**_** about the accident" Cee Cee said. "We just got done interviewing the monsignor. It's really unfortunate, about the archbishop coming, and all, and the statue of Father Serra not having a head"**

"**Yeah" Adam said. "A real bummer"**

"**Well" Father Dominic said. "Never mind that. It's the caring spirit of you children that should most impress the archbishop"**

"Somehow, I don't think it will"

"**Amen" Adam said solemnly. **

**Before either of us had a chance to berate Adam for being sarcastic, **

"I don't think he was...."

**A nurse came in and told Cee Cee and I that we had to leave because she had to give Father Dom his sponge bath.**

"**Sponge bath" Adam grumbled as we made our way to the car. "Father Dom gets a sponge bath, but me, a guy who can actually appreciate something like that, what do **_**I **_**get?"**

The boys nodded in agreement while Helen and Andy looked disgusted.

"**A chance to play chauffeur to the two most beautiful girls in Carmel?" Cee Cee offered, helpfully. **

Brad snorted. "Them? Attractive? And pigs can fly"

"_Bradley" _

"**Yeah" Adam said. "Right" then he glanced at me. "Not that you aren't the most beautiful girl in Carmel, Suze...I just meant...well **_**you **_**know..."**

"**I know" I said, with a smile. **

"**I mean a sponge bath. And did you get a look at that nurse?" Adam held the passenger seat forwards so Cee Cee could crawl into the back seat. "There must be something to this priest thing. Maybe I should enroll"**

"I don't think he'd make a good priest" David said giggling.

**From the backseat. Cee Cee said, "You don't enroll, you receive a calling. And believe me, Adam, you wouldn't like it. They don't let priests play Nintendo"**

Helen laughed at this while her eldest stepsons looked rather disappointed.

**Adam digested this. "Maybe I could form a new order" he said thoughtfully. "Like the Franciscans, only we'd be the Joystick Order. Our motto would be High Score for One, Pizza for All"**

Everyone laughed; Brad even cheered at the idea and decided to convert once the Joystick Order was a recognised religion.

**Cee Cee said, "Look out for that seagull"**

"Seagull?!" Helen said panicky.

"They're fine dear, nothing happened" Andy said reassuringly.

**We were on Carmel Beach Road. Just beyond the low stone wall to our right was the Pacific, lit up like a jewel by the enormous yellow ball of sun hovering above it. I guess I must have been looking at it a little longingly **

"Wow...she really likes the sun...what a saddo"

"_Bradley_"**– I still hadn't gotten used to seeing it all the time – because Adam went, "Aw hell" and zipped into a parking space that a BMW had just vacated. I looked at him questioningly as he threw the car into park, and he said, "What? You don't have time to sit and watch the sunset?"**

"What a lovely idea!"

**I was out of the car in a flash. **

**How, I wondered a little while later, had I ever not looked forward to moving here? Sitting on a blanket Adam had extricated from the trunk of his car, watching the joggers and the evening surfers, the Frisbee-catching dogs and the tourists with their cameras, I felt better than I had in a long time. It might have been the fact that I was still operating on about four hours of sleep. It might have been that the heavy odour of brine was clouding my senses. But I really felt, for the first time in what seemed like forever, at peace. **

Helen smiled. "I'm so glad....so happy that she's at peace, that she found somewhere to be happy"

**Which was weird, considering the fact that in a few hours, I was going to be doing battle with the forces of evil. **

Helen's smile faded slightly. "Don't remind me!"

**But until then, I decided to enjoy myself. I turned my face towards the setting sun, feeling its warming rays on my cheeks and listened to the roaring of the waves, the shrieking of the gulls, and the chatter of Cee Cee and Adam. **

"**So I said to her, Claire, you're nearly forty. If you and Paul want to have another kid, you had better hurry. Time is not on your side" Adam sipped a latte he picked up from a coffee shop near where we'd parked. "And she was all, 'but your father and I don't want you to feel threatened by the new baby' and I was like, 'Claire, babies don't threaten me' **

"He really needs to speak more respectably about and to, to his parents" Andy said frowning.

**You know what makes me feel threatened? Steroid-popping Neanderthals like Brad Ackerman. **_**They **_**threaten me"**

Brad gulped under his parents glares. "I didn't do anything! I swear!"

"Steroids, Bradley honestly I thought I raised you better than that"

"I don't take steroids!"

**Cee Cee shot Adam a warning look, then looked at me. "How are you getting along with your new stepbrothers, Suze?"**

**I tore my eyes away from the setting sun. "All right, I guess. Does Do- I mean, Brad really take steroids?"**

"NO! HOOK ME UP TO A LIE DETECTOR IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME!"

**Adam said, "I shouldn't have mentioned that. I'm sorry. I'm sure he doesn't.**

"See!"

Andy relaxed slightly. "Of course, I'm sorry for questioning you"

"Apology accepted" Brad said stiffly.

**All those guys on the wrestling team though – they scare me. And they're so homophobic...well you can't help wondering about their sexual orientation. I mean, they all think**_** I'm**_** gay, but you wouldn't catch**_** me**_** in a pair of tights grabbing at some other guy's inner thigh"**

David burst out into hysterical giggle while Jake grinned. "He has a point, is there something you're not telling us Brad? Should I worry if I catch you staring at me shirtless?"

Brad flushed angrily and attempted to tackle Jake only Andy swooped down and grabbed him by the collar. "Now, now, no fighting. Jake, don't tease your brother, Brad there is nothing wrong with being gay"

"I'M NOT GAY!"

**I felt the need to apologize for my stepbrother, and did so, adding "I'm not so sure he's gay. He got very excited when Kelly Prescott called the other night and invited us to her pool party"**

"SEE!"

"Ok, ok, we get it Brad; now for the sake of my eardrums quit yelling!"

**Adam whistled and Cee Cee said unexpectedly, "Well, well, well. Are you sure this blanket is good enough for you? Maybe you would prefer a cashmere beach blanket. That's what Kelly and all her friends sit on" **

Helen glared. "Don't you dare turn on my daughter out of jealousy!"

**I blinked at them, realizing I'd just committed a faux pas. **

"**Oh, I'm sorry. Kelly didn't invite you guys? But I just assumed she was inviting all the sophomores"**

Brad snorted. "Yeah right"

"**Certainly not" Cee Cee said with a sniff. "Just the sophomores with status, which Adam and I definitely lack"**

"**But you," I said, "are the editor of the school paper"**

"Translation: dork"

"**Right" Adam said. "Translate that into**_** dork**_** and you'll have an idea why we've never been invited to any of Princess Kelly's pool parties"**

"**Oh" I said. I was quiet for a minute, listening to the waves. Then I said, "Well, it's not like I was planning on going"**

"You weren't?!"

"Helen, Brad, there's more to life than parties" Andy said tiredly.

"Yes but Andy-"

"Yeah but Dad-"

"Enough! I've almost finished this entry and I would like to do so before tomorrow morning"

"**You weren't?" Cee Cee's eyes bugged out behind her glasses. **

"**No. At first because I had a date with Bryce, which is off now. But now because...well, if you guys aren't going, who would I talk to?"**

**Cee Cee leaned back on the blanket. "Suze" she said. "Have you ever considered running for class VP?"**

**I laughed. "Oh right. I'm the new kid remember?"**

"Doesn't matter, you're the coolest girl in the whole school!"

"David, you're crush is showing again"

David blushed and glared at Brad.

"**Yeah" Adam said. "But there's something about you. I saw real leadership potential in the way you trounced Debbie Mancuso yesterday. Guys always admire a girl who look as if any minute they might punch another girl in the mouth. We just can't help it" he shrugged. "Maybe it's in the genes"**

"Men" Helen said clicking her tongue angrily.

"**Well" I said with a laugh. "I'll certainly take it under advisement. I did hear a rumour Kelly was planning on blowing the entire class budget on some kind of dance-"**

"**Right" Cee Cee nodded. "She does that every year. The stupid spring dance. It's so boring. I mean, if you don't have a boyfriend what's the point? There's nothing to do there but dance"**

"Yeah, I agree" Brad muttered darkly remembering the Winter Dance not so long ago.

"**Wait" Adam said. "Remember that time we brought the water balloons?"**

"**Well" Cee Cee amended. "Ok, **_**that **_**year was fun"**

"THAT WAS THEM! I SPENT THE WHOLE NIGHT SOAKED TO THE BONE!"

"BRAD! MY EARDRUMS!"

"**I was kind of thinking" I heard myself saying, "that something like this might be better. You know. A cookout at the beach. Maybe a couple of them"**

"**Hey" Adam said. "Yeah! And a bonfire! The pyro in me has always wanted to do a bonfire on the beach"**

"I don't think that's allowed..."

**Cee Cee said, "Totally. That's totally what we should do. Suze, you've **_**got**_** to run for VP"**

"Yes! Please do Suzie"

**Holy smoke, what had I done? I didn't want to be sophomore class VP! I didn't want to get involved! I had no school spirit – I had no opinion on anything! What was I doing? Had I lost my mind?**

"Lost it a long time ago Sweetheart"

"Bradley, stop insulting your stepsister"

"**Oh, look" Adam said pointing suddenly at the sun. "There it goes"**

**The great orange ball seemed to sink into the sea as it began its slow descent below the horizon. I didn't see any splashing or steam, but I could have sword I heard it hit the water's surface. **

"**There goes the sun" Cee Cee sang softly. **

"**Da, da, da, da, da" Adam said. **

"**There goes the sun" I joined in. **

"God, how _sad_ can you get?"

**Ok, I have to admit, it was kind of childish, sitting, singing, watching the sun go down. But it was also kind of fun. Back in New York, we used to sit in the park and watch undercover cops arrest drug dealers. But that wasn't anywhere near as nice as this, singing happily on a beach as the sun went down. **

"I agree. I feel so much at ease knowing my daughter isn't near such scum like men"

**Something strange was happening. I wasn't sure what it was. **

"**And I say" the three of us sang, "it's all right!"**

**And strangely enough, at that moment, I actually believed it would be. All right, I mean. **

"Sad, sad person"

"Bradley, one more warning"

**And that's when I realized what was happening:**

**I was fitting in. Me, Susannah Simon, mediator. I was fitting in somewhere for the first time in my life. **

**And I was happy about it. Really happy. I actually believed, just then, that everything was going to be all right.**

Everyone but Brad sighed knowing full well that everything wasn't going to be all right for a while...

**Boy was I ever in denial. **

"Oh Suzie" Helen sighed. "I wish this was over. I hate hearing how unhappy she is, I want to hear about her being happy"

"Helen. You know she's happy" Andy said patiently, "you see her with Jesse and you know she's happy. She's doing well in school, made lots of friends and is fitting in brilliantly. So it took a while and a lot of struggling for her, be at peace knowing this story has a happy ending"

Helen smiled weakly. "You're right" she said. "Pass me the book"


	17. Chapter 17

_Author's Note: a birthday present to Ellie! Happy Birthday Ellie_

**My alarm went off at midnight. I didn't hit the snooze button. I turned it off, clapped my hands to turn on the bedside lamp, rolled over and stared at the canopy over my bed. **

**This was it. D-day. Or E-day, I should have called it. **

"That's not funny" Brad interrupted with a look of disgust on his face. "That's just sad"

**I'd been so tired after dinner; I knew I'd never make it without a nap. I told my mother I was going upstairs to do homework, and then I'd lain down with the intention of sacking out for a few hours.**

"Hmm" Helen said her lips at a thin line.

**Back in our old place in Brooklyn, this wouldn't have been a problem. My mom would have left me alone like I asked. But in the Ackerman household, the words **_**I want to be alone **_**were apparently completely meaningless. **

Andy glared at his three sons. "What did you do?"

"What make you think it were us?" Brad yelped. "There are two other people in the house you know"

"I respect my stepdaughter's privacy and Helen respects it to" Andy said glaring at Brad.

**And not because the place is crawling with ghosts either. No, it was the living who kept on bugging me for a change. **

**First it was Dopey. **

"My point proven!"

**When I sat down to another gourmet dinner, immaculately prepared by my new stepfather, an interrogation of sorts had begun because I had ended up not getting home until after six. **

"I was so worried" Helen said. "I had no idea where she was, and this was a whole new town. She could have ended up dead on the beach or something!"

"Mom, calm down, Suze is fine" Jake said.

**There was the usual 'where were you?' from my mother (even though I'd so conscientiously left her that explanatory message). **

Helen glared at Andy who took a sudden interest in the ceiling. "You know, I think I can see cracks. I'm going to need to live to fix those"

His sons, unsympathetically, snickered.

**Then 'did you have fun?' from Andy. And then there was a 'who'd you go with' from, of all people, Doc. And when I said "Adam McTavish and Cee Cee Webb" Dopey actually snorted disgustedly and, chewing on a meatball, said, "Christ. The class freaks"**

Andy glared disapprovingly at his son. "Hey. Watch it"

"Dad! It was practically a year ago!"

**Andy said, "Hey. Watch it"**

"**Well, jeez, Dad" Dopey said. "One's a freakin' albino and the other's a fag"**

Andy opened his mouth, when Helen suddenly grabbed his arm. "Let it go darling, it was a year ago and you did punish him for it"

**This earned him a very hard wallop on the head from his father, who also grounded him for a week. Meaning, I couldn't help pointing out to Dopey later as we were clearing our plates from the table, that he would be unable to attend Kelly Prescott's pool party, which, by the way, I – Queen of Freaks – had gotten him invited too. **

"Ooh, I bet that stung" Jake laughed.

"**Too bad, bubby" I said, giving Dopey a sympathetic pat on the cheek. **

**He slapped my hand away. "Yeah?" he said. "Well, at least nobody'll be callin' **_**me**_** a fag hag tomorrow"**

Andy glared at Brad, who shifted uncomfortably on the floor.

"**Oh, sweetie" I said. I reached out and tweaked the cheek I'd just patted. "You'll never have to worry about people calling you that. They call you**_** much**_** worse things"**

Jake and David laughed while Andy bit his lip to prevent a laugh and Helen held the book up to her face to hide her smile. Brad crossed his arms and began to sulk.

**He hit my hand again, his fury apparently so great, it rendered him temporarily speechless. **

"**Promise me you'll never change" I begged him. "You're so adorable just the way you are"**

The laughter continued.

**Dopey called me a very bad name just as his father entered the kitchen with the remains of the salad. **

**Andy grounded him for another week, and then sent him to his room. To show his unhappiness with this turn of events, Dopey put on the Beastie Boys and played them at such high decibels that sleep was impossible for me...at least until Andy came up and took away Dopey's speakers. Then everything got very quiet, and I was just about to doze off when someone tapped at my door. It was Doc. **

"See! It's not just me who bugged Suze!"

"Shut up Brad, no one cares" Jake said.

"**Um" he said glancing nervously past me, into the darkness of my room – the 'haunted' room of the house. "Is this a good time to, um, talk about the things I found out? About the house, I mean? And the people who died here?"**

"**People? In the plural sense?"**

"Oh, sure. I was able to find a surprising amount of documentation listing the crimes committed in this house, many of which involved murder of varying degrees. Because it was a boarding house, there were an-"

"David dear" Helen said. "Just let me read"

"**Oh, sure" Doc said. "I was able to find a surprising amount of documentation listing the crimes committed in this house, many of which involved murder of varying degrees. Because it was a boarding house, there were an**

David blushed as his brothers and father laughed. "You can be such a dork, Dave" Brad said still snorting with laughter.

**Y number of transient residents, most of whom were on their way home after striking it rich in the gold rush further up state. Many of them were killed in their sleep and their gold absconded, some thought by the owners of the establishment, but most likely it was by other residents-"**

**Fearing I was going to hear that Jesse had died this way and suddenly not at all eager to know any more what had caused his death,**

"Aw, it's more signs that she's falling in love" Helen cooed.

"I don't think that why she wanted to not hear it" Andy muttered.

**Particularly not if he happened to be around to overhear – **

Helen deflated slightly as Andy made a quiet "Ah-ha"

**I said, "Listen, Doc – I mean, Dave. I don't thin I've gotten over my jet lag yet, so I'm trying to catch up on my sleep just now. Can we talk about this tomorrow at school? Maybe we could have lunch together"**

**Doc's eyes widened. "Are you serious? You want to have lunch with me?"**

"Awww that's so sweet!"

**I stared at him, "Well, yeah. Why? Is there some rule high schoolers can't eat with middle schoolers?"**

"**No" Doc said. "It's just that...they never do"**

"And my brothers never even thought of spending time with me" David added.

"I was too tired!" Jake protested.

"I never cared" Brad said and then he frowned. "Wait that sounds bad"

"You think?"

"**Well" I said. "I will. Ok? You buy the drinks, and I'll buy the dessert"**

"**Great!" Doc said, and went back to his own room looking like I'd just said tomorrow I'd present him with the throne of England. **

"I felt it"

**I was just on the verge of dozing off again when there was another knock on the door. **

"Three guesses who"

**This time when I opened it, Sleepy was standing there looking more wide awake, for once, than I felt.**

"**Look" he said. "I don't care if you're gonna take the car out at night, just put the keys back on the hook, ok?"**

Andy and Helen turned to face their eldest son who smiled sheepishly. "So let me get this straight" Helen said coldly. "You knew that Suze was sneaking out. Possibly taking the car and never thought to tell us?"

"Well...." Jake said fidgeting. "When you put it that way...."

"You're buying your own dinner for a week" Andy said. "Since I can't ground you any more"

**I stared up at him. "I haven't been taking your car out at night, Slee- I mean Jake"**

**He said, "Whatever. Just put the keys back where you found 'em. And it wouldn't hurt if you pitched in for gas now and then"**

"And you're paying the gas for my car for a week as well"

"That's not fair!"

"Jake Ackerman! You knew your little sister was getting into trouble and didn't think to come to us! What on earth were you thinking?!"

"He wasn't" Brad snickered, earning a few glares from his parents and elder brother.

**I said slowly, so he would understand. "I haven't been taking your car out at night, Jake"**

"**What you do in your own time is your business" Sleepy said. "I mean, I don't think gangs are cool or anything. But it's your life. Just put my keys back so I can find 'em"**

**I could see there was no point in arguing this, so I said, "Ok, I will," and shut the door. **

**After that, I got a good few hours of much needed sleep. I didn't exactly wake up feeling refreshed – I could have slept for maybe another year – but I felt a little better, anyway.**

**Good enough to go kick some ghost butt, anyway. **

"Noooooooooooooooo" Helen moaned. "Go back to bed and do it when Father Dominic can help you"

"I don't think she will" David said.

**I'd gotten together all the things I was going to need earlier in the evening. My backpack was crammed with candles, paint brushes, a Tupperware container of chicken blood **

"Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" Brad moaned.

**that I'd brought at the butcher counter in Safeway I made Adam take me to before dropping me off at home, and various other assorted necessary components of a real Brazilian exorcism. I was completely ready to go. All I had to do was throw on my high tops, and I was out of there. **

**Except of course, Jesse had to show up just as I was jumping off the porch roof. **

"Oh thank God, maybe he'll stop her"

"I doubt it Mom. I really do"

"**Ok," I said, straightening up, my feet smarting a little in spite of the soft ground I landed on. "Let's get one thing straight right now. You are not going to show up down at the Mission tonight. Got that? You show up down there, and you are going to be very, very sorry"**

"She's looking out for him!" Helen squealed.

"Probably just wanted to pay him back for the night before" Jake shot back.

**Jesse was leaning against one of the giant pine trees in our yard. Just leaning there, his arms folded across his chest, looking at me as if I were some sort of interesting sideshow attraction, or something. **

"She is in her Queen of the Night getup"

"Bradley, I'm warning you"

"**I mean it" I said. "It's going to be a bad night for ghosts. Real bad. So I wouldn't show up down there if I were you"**

**Jesse, I noticed, was smiling. There wasn't as much moon as there'd been the night before, but there was enough so that I could see that little curl at the corners of his lips was turning skywards, not down. **

"**Susannah," he said. "What are you up to?"**

"**Nothing" I marched over to the carport, and yanked out the ten-speed. "I just got some things to settle"**

**Jesse strolled over towards me as I was strapping on the bike helmet. "With Heather?" he asked lightly. **

"**Right. With Heather. I know things got out of hand last time, but this time, things are going to be different"**

"**How precisely?"**

"Because Suze is going to kick butt!" David said excitedly.

"Yeah, course she is" Jake said smiling fondly down at his youngest brother.

**I swung a leg over that stupid bar they put on boys' bikes, and stood at the top of the driveway, my fingers curled round the handlebars. "Ok" I said. "I'll level with you. I'm going to perform an exorcism"**

**His right hand shot out. It gripped the bar between my fingers. "A **_**what?"**_** he said in a voice completely devoid of the good humour that had been in it before. **

**I swallowed. Ok, I wasn't feeling quite as confident as I was acting. In fact, I was practically quaking in my Converse All Stars. But what else could I do? I had to stop Heather before she hurt anybody else. **

"True..."

**And it would have been really helpful if everybody could have just supported me in my efforts. **

"But not without help! I refuse to let her go into danger without Father Dominic or Jesse by her side!"

"**You can't help me" I said, woodenly. "You can't go down there tonight, Jesse, or you might get exorcized, too"**

"**You" Jesse said, speaking as tonelessly as I was, "are insane"**

"**Probably" I said miserably. **

"She wants him to have a higher opinion of her!"

"Or she's just tired"

"Jake, stop ruining my fun"

"**She'll kill you" Jesse said. "Don't you understand? That's what she wants"**

"He's right. Listen to him, Suzie, please!"

"**No" I shook my head. "She doesn't want to kill me. She wants to kill everybody I care about first.**_** Then**_** she wants to kill me" I sniffled.**

Helen gasped. "Oh Suzie!"

**For some reason, my nose was running probably because it was so cold out. I don't see how those palm trees could stay alive. It was like forty degrees, or something, outside. **

"**But I'm not going to let her, see?" I continued. "I'm going to stop her. Now let go of my bike"**

"NO!"

**Jesse shook his head. "No. No. Even you wouldn't do something so stupid"**

"**Even me?" I was hurt, in spite of myself. "Thanks"**

**He ignored me. "Does the priest know about this, Susannah? Did you tell the priest?"**

"**Um, sure. He knows. He's, uh, meeting me there"**

"Liar, liar, pants on fire" Brad sang, everyone else rolled their eyes.

"**The priest is meeting you there?"**

"**Yeah, uhuh" I gave a shaky laugh. "You don't think I'd try something like this on my own, do you? I mean jeez, I'm not **_**that **_**stupid, no matter what you think"**

**His grip on the bike relaxed a little. "Well, if the priest will be there..."**

"No! Don't believe her Jesse! She's putting herself into danger! Save my baby!"

"**Sure. Sure he will"**

**The grip tightened again. Jesse's other hand came around, and a long finger wagged in my face as he said, "You're lying, aren't you? **

Brad's jaw dropped. "He can tell? I thought no one could, she's so good that I never knew when she was telling the truth or not"

"Another sign that they'd make a good couple" Helen sighed dreamily.

"Oh brother"

**The priest isn't going to be there at all. She hurt him, didn't she? This morning? I thought so. Did she kill him?"**

"No, thank God"

**I shook my head. I didn't feel so much like talking all of a sudden. It felt like there was something in my throat. Something that hurt. **

"She's upset, oh sweetie, its ok, Father Dominic healed up just fine"

"She does realize she's talking to a book, right?" Brad whispered to Jake.

"You're an idiot" was Jake's reply.

"**That's why you're so angry" Jesse said wonderingly. "I should have known. You're going down there to get even with her for what she did to the priest"**

"**So what if I am?" I exploded. "She deserves it!"**

"Here, here!"

**He put his finger down, gripping the handlebars of my bike with both hands. And let me tell you, he was pretty strong for a dead guy. **

"Well, duh, apparently they have super powers. You said so yourself" Brad said rolling his eyes.

**I couldn't budge the stupid thing with him hanging on to it like that.**

"**Susannah" he said. "This isn't the way. This wasn't why you were given this extraordinary gift, not so you could do things like-"**

"She won't like that"

"**Gift!" I nearly burst out laughing. I had to grit my teeth to keep from doing so. "Yeah, that's right, Jesse. I've been given a precious gift. Well, you know what? I'm sick of it. I really am. I thought coming out here, I'd be able to make a new start. I thought things might be different. And you know what? They are. They're **_**worse**_**"**

"Oh baby" Helen murmured, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Andy reached out and squeezed her hand.

"**Susannah-"**

"**What am I supposed to do, Jesse? Love Heather for what she did? **

"No"

**Embrace her wounded spirit? I'm sorry, but that's impossible. Maybe Father Dom could do it, but not me, and he's out of commission, so we're going to do things **_**my**_** way. I'm going to get rid of her, and if you know what's good for you, Jesse, you'll stay away"**

"I agree with Suze, Heather needs her arse kicking and only a saint like Father Dom can be patient with a rotten cow like her" Jake said.

**I gave my kickstand a vicious kick, and at the same time, yanked on the handlebars. The move surprised Jesse so much he let go of the bike involuntarily. A second later, I was off, spraying gravel out from beneath my back wheel, leaving Jesse in my dust. I heard him say a bunch of stuff in Spanish as I sped down the driveway. I think it was a swear words. The word **_**querida**_** was definitely not mentioned. **

"No I don't think he feels very loving towards you at the moment" Brad laughed.

**I didn't see much of my trip down into the Valley. The wind was so cold that tears streamed in a pretty constant flow down my cheeks and back into my hair. There wasn't much traffic out, thank God, so when I flew through the intersection, it didn't really matter that I couldn't see. The cars stopped for me anyway.**

Helen breathed deeply, trying to keep calm.

**I knew it was going to be trickier to break into school this time. They'd have beefed up the security in response to what happened the night before. Beefed up the security? All they had to do was actually get some.**

"Sad, but true"

**And they had. A police cruiser sat in the parking lot, its lights off. Just sitting there, the moonlight reflecting off the closed windows. The driver – doubtlessly some luckless rookie to have pulled so boring an assignment**

"Probably"

– **was probably listening to music, though I couldn't hear any from where I stood just outside the gate to the parking lot. **

**So I was going to have to find another way to get in. No biggie. I stashed the bike in some bushes, then took a leisurely stroll round the perimeter of the school. **

**There aren't many buildings you can keep a fairly slender sixteen-year-old girl out of. I mean, we're pretty flexible.**

"I'll have to fatten that girl up" Andy muttered. "And hide her kick boxing stuff"

**I happen to be double-jointed in a lot of places, too. I won't tell you how I managed to break in, since I don't want the school authorities figuring it out – you never know, I might have to do it again someday **

"Dear God I hope not!"

– **but lets just say if you're going to make a gate, make sure it reaches all the way to the ground. That gap between the cement and where the gate starts is exactly all the room a girl like me needs to wriggle through. **

"Hold on, I need a pen and paper" Andy said getting up. After a long muttered rummaging through the living room, Andy had managed to find a notebook and pen. "Right then, I need to ground Suze and Brad, file a complaint against Sister Ernestine, fatten Suze up, talk to Jesse and now donate a new set of gates that will reach the cement"

**Inside the courtyard, things looked a lot different from the night before – and a whole lot creepier: all the floodlights were turned off – this didn't seem like a very good safety precaution to me, but it was possible, of course, that Heather had blown all the bulbs – so the courtyard was dark and eerily shadowed. The fountain was turned off. I couldn't hear anything this time except for crickets. Just crickets chirping in the hibiscus. Nothing wrong with crickets. Crickets are our friends. **

"Says the girl with the bug phobia"

**There was no sign of Heather. There was no sign of anybody. This was good. **

"Very"

**I crept, as quietly as I could – which was pretty quietly in my sneakers – to the locker Heather and I shared. Then I knelt down on the cold flagstones, and opened my backpack.**

**I lit the candles first. I needed their light to see by. Holding my lighter- ok, it wasn't really my lighter, it was the long-handled lighter from the barbecue **

"I was wondering where that went to!" Andy exclaimed. "I had to use matches the next day"

– **To the candle's bottom, I dripped some wax on the ground, then shoved the candle's base into the gooey dripping to keep it in place. I did this to each candle until I formed a ring of them in front of me. Then I peeled back the lid of the container holding the chicken blood. **

"Oh, Ew, Ew, Ew" Brad muttered.

**I'm not going to write down the shape that I was required to paint in the centre of the ring of candles in order for the exorcism to work.**

"She drew in it?!"

**Exorcisms aren't things people should try at home, I don't care how badly you might be haunted. And they should only be performed by a professional like myself.**

"Pfft yeah, cause you're actually a professional"

"Bradley"

**You wouldn't, after all, want to hurt any innocent ghosts who happen to be hanging around. I mean, exorcizing Grandma – that won't make you **_**too**_** unpopular or anything. **

"Make you very popular if you can get rid of Gran-Gran" Jake muttered with a shudder.

The three other males also shuddered at the memory of their mother's (wife in Andy's case) overbearing mother. A strict catholic woman who obeyed all laws, morals and virtues preached by the church and detested anything to do with surfing, sweets and men doing woman's work. Andy had many times resisted the urge to strangle to wrinkly and pale woman each time she told him he shouldn't cook.

**And Mecumba – Brazilian voodoo – isn't something people should mess with either, so I won't write down the incantation I had to say. It was all in Portuguese anyway. But let's just say that I dipped my brush into the chicken blood and made the appropriate shapes, **

Brad pulled disgusted faces once more.

**Uttering the appropriate words as I did so. It wasn't until I reached into the backpack and pulled out Heather's photograph that I noticed the crickets had stopped chirping. **

"**What." she said, in an irritated voice from just behind my right shoulder, "in the hell do you think you're doing?"**

"Hello to you, too" Jake said sarcastically.

**I didn't answer her. I put the photo in the centre of the shape I had painted. The light from the candles illuminated it fairly well. **

**Heather came closer. "Hey" she said. "That's a picture of me. Where'd you get it?"**

"None of your bees wax"

**I didn't say anything except the Portuguese words I was supposed to say. This seemed to upset Heather. **

Jake snorted. "Everything upsets Heather"

**Well let's face it. Everything seemed to upset Heather. **

"See"

"**What are you doing?" Heather demanded again. "What's that language you're talking in? And what's that red paint for?" when I didn't answer her. Heather became – as seemed to be her nature – abusive. **

"Yes, she's a very abusive person. I thank God everyday for making sure she never had children because those poor innocent kids would have been turned into spoilt beaten brats"

"Jake, please be a little respectful about the dead" Andy sighed.

"**Hey, bitch," she said, laying, a hand on my shoulder and pulling on it, not very gently. "Are you listening to me?"**

**I broke off the incantation. "Could you do me a favour, Heather," I said, "And stand right there next to your picture?"**

"As if she would!"

**Heather shook her head. Her long blonde hair shimmered in the candlelight. "What are you?" she demanded rudely. "High or something? I'm not standing anywhere. Is that...is that blood?"**

**I shrugged. Her hand was still on my shoulder. "Yes" I said. "Don't worry though. It's just chicken blood"**

"**Chicken blood?" Heather made a face. "Gross. **

"See! Even Heather agrees with me!"

"Brad, that's not a good thing"

**Are you kidding me? What's it for?"**

"**To help you" I said. "To help you go back"**

**Heather's jaw tightened. The doors to the lockers in front of me began to rattle. Not a lot. Just enough to let me know Heather was unhappy. "I thought," She said, "that I made it pretty clear to you last night that I'm not going anywhere"**

"**You said you wanted to go back"**

"**Yeah" Heather said. The dials on the combination locks began to spin noisily. "To my old life"**

"**Well" I said. "I found a way you can do it"**

"Ooh, that's pretty ingenious" Jake said admiringly.

**The doors began to hum, they were shaking so hard. **

"**No way" Heather said. **

"**Way. All you have to do is stand here, between those candles, next to your picture"**

**Heather needed no further urging in a second, she was exactly where I wanted her. **

"**Are you sure this will work?" Heather asked excitedly. **

"**It better" I said. "Otherwise, I've blown my allowances on candles and chicken blood for nothing"**

"I wondered why she didn't seem to buy anything that week"

"**And things will be just like they were? Before I died, I mean?"**

"**Sure" I said. Should I have felt guilty for lying to her?**

"No"

**I didn't. Feel guilty, I mean. All I felt was relieved. It had all been too easy. **

"Yeah...a bit too easy" David said uneasily.

"**Now shut up a minute while I say the words"**

**She was only too eager to oblige. I said the words. **

**And said the words. **

**And said the words. **

"We get the picture!"

**I was just starting to be worried nothing was going to happen when the candle flames flickered. And it wasn't because there was any wind. **

"**Nothing's happening" Heather complained, **

"Oh shut up!"

**But I shushed her. **

**The candle flames flickered again. And then, above Heather's head, where the roof of the breezeway should have been, appeared a hole filled with red, swirling gases. I stared at the hole. **

"Holy macaroni!" Andy said.

"Well...shit" Brad said blinking.

"Language Brad!"

"But Dad, swearing moment!"

"There is no such thing"

"**Uh, Heather" I said. "You might want to close you eyes"**

**She did so happily enough. "Why? Is it working?"**

"Oh, it's working all right" Jake said gleefully.

"**Oh" I said. "It's working all right"**

**Heather said something that might have been 'goodie', but I wasn't sure. I couldn't hear her too well since the swirling gas – it was more like smoke really – had started spiralling down from the hole, making a low sort of thundering noise as it did so. Soon long tendrils of the stuff were wrapping round Heather, lightly as fog. Only she didn't know it since her eyes were closed. **

Everyone shuddered at the disturbing images they formed in their minds.

"**I hear something" she said. "Is this it?"**

**Above her head, the hole widened. I could see lightning flashing in it. It didn't look like the most pleasant place to go. I'm not saying I'd opened a gate to hell or anything**

"I should hope not!"

– **At least I hope not – **

"That's not very reassuring"

**But it was definitely a dimension other than our own, and frankly, it didn't look like a nice place to visit, let alone live in for all eternity. **

"**Just one more minute" I said, as more and more snaky red limbs wrapped round her slender cheerleader's body. "And you'll be there"**

"Hallelujah!"

**Heather tossed her long hair. "Oh God" she said. "I can't wait. First thing I'm going to do, I'm going to go down the hospital and apologize to Bryce. Don't you think that's a good idea, Suzie?"**

"Quit calling her that!" Helen snapped. "Suzie, is my pet name for my daughter"

"Also it's just a death wish" Brad added.

**I said, "Sure" the thunder was getting louder, the lightning more frequent. "That's a great idea"**

"**I hope my mom hasn't gotten rid of my clothes" Heather said. "Just because I was dead. You don't think my mom would have gotten rid of my clothes, do you, Suzie?" **

"Selfish brat" Jake muttered.

**She opened her eyes. **

"NO!" everyone shouted.

"**Do you?"**

**I shouted, "Keep you eyes closed!"**

"YES KEEP YOU EYES CLOSED!"

**But it was too late. She had seen. Oh, boy, had she seen. She took one look at the red wisps wrapped round her and started shrieking. **

"SHIT!"

No one bothered scolding Brad at his language. Andy leaned forward and stared at the book's front cover intently as Helen's grip tightened on the book.

**And not with fear either. Oh no. Heather wasn't scared. She was mad. Really mad. **

"**You bitch!" she shrieked. "You aren't sending me back! You aren't sending me back at all! You're sending me **_**away**_**!"**

"Well can you blame her? You're a complete psycho" Jake spat out.

**And then, just when the thunder was getting loudest, Heather stepped out of the circle. **

"NO!"

**Just like that. She had stepped out of it. Like it was no big deal. Like it was hopscotch square. Those red wisps of smoke that had been wrapped all round her just fell away like nothing. And the hole above Heather's head closed up.**

"Oh fucking hell" Brad said.

"She's doomed" David wailed throwing himself at his father. "Heather's power is going to hurt her!"

"Shh...It'll be all right" Andy said uncertainly as he hugged his youngest tightly.

**Ok. I admit it. I got mad. Hey, I'd put a lot of work into this thing. **

"**Oh no you don't" I growled. I strode up to Heather and grabbed her. Round the neck, I'm afraid. **

"Don't be afraid! Strangle the life out of her!"

"Jake!"

"Dude, she's dead"

"**Get back in there" I said, from between gritted teeth. "Get back in there right now"**

**Heather only laughed. I had the girl by the throat, and she only laughed. **

"I told you she was psycho!"

"**You" she said, "are so dead. You are so dead, Simon. And you know what? I'm going to make sure that the rest of them go with you. All of your little freaky friends. And that stepbrother of yours, too"**

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY BABIES!"

**I tightened my grip on her throat. "I don't think so. I think you're going to get back where you were and go away like a good little ghost"**

"Her, good?"

**She laughed again. "Make me" she said, her blue eyes glittering like crazy. **

**Well. If you put it that way. **

**I hit her hard with my right fist. Then, before she had a chance to recover, I hit her the other way with my left. If she felt the blows, she made no sign. No, that's not true. I know she felt the blows because the locker doors suddenly started opening and closing. Not closing exactly. Slamming. Hard. Hard enough to shake the whole breezeway. **

Everyone stiffened, no one dare say anything, and Helen's hand began to shake as well as her voice as she continued to read.

**I mean it. The whole breezeway was pitching back and forth, as if the ground beneath it was really ocean waves. The thick wooden support pillars that held up the arched roof shook in ground that had held them steady for close to three hundred years. Three hundred years of earthquakes, fires, floods, and the ghost of a cheerleader sends them tumbling down. **

**I tell you, this meditation stuff is no damned fun.**

"Really?" Brad said dryly finally finding his voice.

**And then **_**her**_** fingers were round **_**my **_**throat. I don't know how. I guess I got distracted by all the shaking. This was no good. I grabbed her by the arms, and started to push her back towards the circle of candles. As I did so, I muttered the Portuguese incantation under my breath, staring at the swaying rafters overheard, hoping that the hole to that shadowy land would open up again. **

"Please God, please"

"**Shut up" Heather said, when she heard what I was saying, "Shut your mouth! You are not sending me away. I belong here! A lot more than you"**

"GO TO HELL!"

**I kept saying the words. I kept pushing. **

"COME ON SUZE!"

"**Who the hell do you think you are?" Heather's face was red with rage. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a planter packed with geraniums levitate a few inches off the stone balustrade on which it had been resting. "You're **_**no one**_**. You've only been to this school two days. Two days! You think you can just come in here and change everything? You think you can just **_**take my place**_**? Who do you think you are?"**

"Susannah Simon, mediator and my little sis. So back of bitch" Jake said venomously.

**I kicked a leg, and pulling on the arms I held at the same time as I swept her feet out from under her, sent us both crashing to the hard stone floor: the planter followed not because we knocked it, over, but because Heather sent it hurling through the air at me. I ducked at last minute, and the heavy clay pot smashed the locker doors in an explosion of mulch and geranium and pottery shards.**

Helen let out a scream and the other flinched.

**I grabbed fistfuls of Heather's long glossy blonde hair. This was not very sporting of me, but hey, the geraniums hadn't been very sporting of her. **

"I don't care about sporting, just get rid of her and get out back to safety, Suzie!"

**She shrieked kicking and withering like an eel while I half dragged, half shoved her towards the circle of candles. She'd started levitating other objects. The combination locks spun out of their cores in the locker doors, and careened through the air at me like tiny little flying saucers. Then a tornado rolled in, sucking the contents of those lockers out into the breezeway, so that textbooks and three-ring binders were flying at me from four different directions. I kept my head down, but didn't lose my hold on her even when somebody's trig book hit me in the shoulder. I kept saying the words I knew would open the hole again. **

"**Why are you doing this?" Heather shrieked. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"**

"Because you're a psycho!"

"**Because" I was bruised, I was out of breath, I was dripping with sweat, and all I wanted to do was let go of her, turn around and go home, crawl into my bed, and sleep for a million years. **

"Then do, baby girl, go back and wait for Father Dominic" Helen pleaded.

**But I couldn't. **

"Why? Why not?"

"Because Heather would have gone after her for revenge" David pointed out, his voice muffled by the fact he buried his head into Andy's chest. Andy was stroking his son's red hair comfortingly.

**So instead, I kicked her in the centre of the chest and sent her staggering back to the centre of the circle of candles. And the minute she stumbled over that photograph of herself she'd given to Bryce; the hole that had opened up above her head reappeared. And this time, the red smoke closed round her suffocatingly as a thick wool blanket. She wasn't breaking out again. Not that easily. **

"Oh thank God"

**The red fog had encased her so thickly, I couldn't see her any more, but I could sure hear her. Her shrieks ought to have woken the dead – except, of course, she was the only dead around. Thunder clapped over her head. Inside the black hole that had opened above her, I thought I saw stars twinkling.**

"_**Why?"**_** Heather screamed. "Why are you doing this to me?"**

"**Because," I said, "I'm the mediator"**

**And then two things happened almost simultaneously. **

**The red smoke surrounding Heather began to be sucked back up into the spinning hole taking Heather with it. **

**And the sturdy pillars that supported the breezeway over my head suddenly snapped in two as cleanly as if they'd been two inches, and not two feet, thick.**

**And then the breezeway collapsed on top of me. **

"" Helen screamed dropping the book.

She then burst into tears.

David pulled away from his father and fell back onto his older brothers, both clutching him tightly as they watched their father take their stepmother into his arms and hold her just as he held David, stroking her hair and murmuring comforting words.

Helen just continued to sob.


	18. Chapter 18

_Author's Note: Christmas present to Cee_

Jake picked up the dropped book and plastered a fake smile on his face. "Don't worry Mom, there is five more books which means Suze got out alive. Also you know she's safe, you see her everyday since last January"

"Yeah Mom, chill out" Brad said carelessly. "The Queen of the Dead is unfortunately breathing and rambling. We're stuck here reading the rambling and I want to get out of this room before I get ancient"

Helen let out another sob and Andy glared at his middle son. "Could you try to be more sensitive to your mother's feelings, Bradley?" he said icily.

Brad shrugged. "Whatever dude, let's just finish this before next Christmas"

Helen sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Yes, let's continue" she said before Andy could scold his son once more.

**I have no idea how long I lay beneath the planks of wood and heavy clay tiles of the crumpled breezeway. Looking back, I realize I must have lost consciousness, if only for a few minutes. **

Helen's breath hitched slightly but she reframed from saying anything.

**All I can remember is something sharp hitting me on the head, and the next thing I knew, I'd opened my eyes to consummate blackness, and a feeling that I was being smothered. **

**A favourite trick of some poltergeists is to sit on their victim's chest while he or she is just waking so that the poor soul feels he or she is being smothered, but can't see why. I couldn't see why, and for a second or two I thought I'd failed and that Heather was still in this world, sitting on my chest, torturing me, getting her revenge for what I'd tried to do. **

"Oh God I hope not!" Jake blurted out looking horrified.

**Then I thought, maybe I'm dead. **

"No, please no" Helen moaned.

**I don't know why. But it occurred to me. Maybe this was how being dead felt. At first, anyway. This must have been how it was for Heather when she woke up in her coffin. **

"You know..." David said. "I don't think Heather did wake up in her coffin. She's a ghost not a vampire, and Heather herself said that-"

"David" Helen said in forced politeness. "Please be quiet"

David looked down at the floor. "Sorry" he mumbled dejectedly.

**She must have felt the same way I did: trapped, suffocated, frightened witless. God, no wonder she'd been in such a bad mood all the time. No wonder she'd wanted so desperately to get back to the world she'd known pre-death. This was horrible. It was worse than horrible. It was hell. **

Helen shuddered.

**But then I moved my hand – the only part of me I**_** could**_** move – and felt something rough and cool resting over me. **

"Yes! You can dig yourself out, come on sweetie you can do it" Andy encouraged, wrapping an arm around Helen's shoulder. "See, darling? Everything is going to be fine"

**That's when I knew what had happened. The breezeway had collapsed. Heather had used her last little bit of kinetic power to hurt me for sending her away. And she'd done a splendid job because here I was unable to move, trapped underneath who knew how many pounds of wood and Spanish tile. **

"No, no, no, you can dig yourself out. Please Suzie, I know you can" Helen pleaded desperately.

**Thanks, Heather. Thanks a lot. **

**I should have been scared. I mean, there I was pinned down, completely unable to move, in utter darkness. **

"Please don't remind me" Helen groaned.

**But before I had time to start panicking, I heard someone call my name. I thought at first I might be going crazy. Nobody knew, after all, that I'd gone down to the school except for Jesse of course, and I'd told him what would happen if he showed up. **

"Jesse! He came and rescued her! Oh I love him, Andy bake him a batch of cookies later" Helen said beaming with happiness.

"Gee I wonder if we get the cookies or death" Jake muttered to David who nodded.

**He wasn't stupid. He knew I was performing an exorcism. Could he have decided to come down anyway? Was it safe yet? I didn't know. If he happened to step into the circle of candles and chicken blood, would he be sucked into that same dark shadowland that took Heather?**

Helen perked up slightly. "She's falling for him" everyone decided to not comment, after all they rather see Helen gushing about romance than in the pit of despair.

**Now I started to panic.**

"**Jesse!" I yelled, pounding on the wood above my face, causing dirt and bits of wood to fall down on to my face. "Don't!" I shrieked. All the dust was making me choke, but I didn't care. "Go back! It isn't safe!"**

"Don't listen to her! Save my daughter!"

**Then a great weight was lifted off my chest, and suddenly I could see. Above me was stretched the night sky, velvet blue and spotted with a dusting of stars. And framed by those stars hung a face hovering over me worriedly. **

"**Here she is" Doc called, **

"Hang on! What?" Andy turned his steely glare at his youngest, who paled and swallowed loudly. "David Ackerman would you please tell me what the meaning of this is?"

"Well...err...you see....it's sorta....i..." David stammered.

"Hold on Dad, let me finish reading this sentence before you lecture David" Jake said firmly.

**His voice wobbling in both pitch and volume. "Jake, I found her!"**

Andy pulled out his list. "Ground David" he added. He then glared at both sons. "Let me get this straight, both of you knew this about Suze? Knew she was in trouble and decided to rescue her without telling us? Risking to be caught by the police and shaming me? Risking your own lives? What if Heather was still around? She made a threat about David and she would have no problems going through with them and then I wouldn't just have a dead stepdaughter but two dead sons as well! Think how that would break your mother's heart, how it'll break my own. I am so very disappointed with you two, David I'll disable your internet access during your grounding time. Jake you are expected to find your own dinner for the next month and also I'll have Father Dominic find some charity work for both of you to do"

"Yes Dad" Jake and David murmured respectfully.

"Honestly boys, it's not that I'm not grateful" Helen said hastily, "but what are you thinking? As your father said, you could have been caught or hurt or worse dead! Your father would be devastated; I would die of the thought of loosing you two and your poor mother's soul! She would be tortured at the thought of her own babies dying so young! If she was here today she would have given you the same lecture! You better have a long think and remember this the next time you think Suze is in trouble. Because the next time you must come to us, not take matters into your own hands"

"Yes Mom" Jake and David murmured.

"Ooh, Jake and Dave got into trouble, Jake and Dave got into trouble" Brad sang gleefully.

"Brad! Back in the corner, now!" Andy yelled.

Brad pouted and grudgingly crawled back into his corner. It took a lot of effort for Jake and David to not laugh; if they did then they would probably be forced to sit in their own private corner as well.

**A second face joined the first one, this one framed by a curtain of over-long blond hair. "Jesus Christ" Sleepy drawled, when he got a look at me. "Are you all right, Suze?"**

**I nodded dazedly. "Help me up" I said. **

**The two of them managed to get most of the biggest pieces of timber off me. Then Sleepy instructed me to wrap my arms round his neck, which I did, while David grabbed my waist. And with the two of them pulling, and me pushing with my feet, I finally managed to get clear of the rubble.**

**We sat for a minute in the darkness of the courtyard, leaning against the edge of the dais on which the headless statue of Junipero Serra stood. We just sat there, panting and staring at the ruin which had once been our school. Well that's a bit dramatic, I guess. Most of the school was still standing. Even most of the breezeway was still up. Just the section in front of Heather's locker and Mr Walden's classroom had come down. The twisted pile of wood neatly hid the evidence of my evening's activities, including the candle, which evidently gone out. There was no sign of Heather. The night was perfectly quiet except for the sound of our breathing. And the crickets. **

**That's how I knew Heather was really gone. The crickets had started up again. **

Everyone sighed in relief. "Hallelujah, the witch is dead" Jake muttered.

"**Jesus" Sleepy said again, still panting pretty heavily, "are you sure you're all right, Suze?"**

**I turned to look at him. All he had on was a pair of jeans and an Army jacket, thrown hastily over a bare chest. Sleepy, I noticed, had almost as defined a six-pack as Jesse. **

Jake pulled a revolted facial expression while his parents tried not to laugh. Brad let out a groan of disgust. "I don't hear you being silent, young man" Andy said shutting Brad up.

**How is it that I'd nearly been smothered to death, and yet I could sit there and notice things like my stepbrother's abdominal muscles a few minutes later?**

"I don't know must be a girl thing" David said. "Unless, it's just one of those things people notice in a way to distract them from the trauma they had recently suffered, I'll have to do some research on that later"

"**Yeah" I said, pushing some hair out of my eyes. "I'm fine. A little banged up, maybe. But nothing broken"**

"**She should probably go to the hospital and get checked out" David's voice was still pretty wobbly. "Don't you think she should go to the hospital and get checked out, Jake?"**

"Yes, very good thinking, I hope you took her to the hospital before taking her home because I know you didn't even bother phoning us" Helen said glaring at her eldest and youngest who both smiled innocently.

"**No" I said. "No hospitals"**

"Susannah Simon! You will go to the hospital!"

"**You could have a concussion" David said. "Or a fractured skull. You might slip into a coma in your sleep and never wake up.**

"You see, listen to your brother, Suze"

**You should at least get an X-ray. Or an MRI, maybe. A CAT scan wouldn't hurt, either-"**

"**No" I brushed my hands off on my leggings and stood up. My body felt pretty creaky, but whole. "Come on. Let's get out of here before somebody comes. They were bound to have heard all that" I nodded towards the part of the building where the priests and nuns lived. Lights had come on in some of the windows. "I don't want to get you guys in trouble"**

"Well you should have thought of that young lady before you went after Heather" Andy scolded.

"**Yeah" Sleepy said getting up. "Well, you might have thought of that before you snuck out, huh?"**

Andy gave his eldest an approving look. "I hope you gave her a stern lecture" he said. "That way I won't go to harsh on her"

"Don't worry Dad; I lectured her the whole way home"

**We left the way we'd come in. Like me, David had wriggled in beneath the front gates, then unlocked it from the inside and let Sleepy in.**

Andy glared at his sons once more.

**We slipped out quietly as we could, and hurried to the Rambler, which Sleepy had parked in some shadows, out of sight of the police car. The black and white was still sitting there, its occupant perfectly oblivious to what had gone on just a few dozen yards away. Still, I didn't want to risk anything by trying to sneak past him, and retrieve my bike. We just left it there, and hoped no one would notice it. **

"Did you get it back?" Andy asked curiously.

"Oh yes, I rode it home the next day" David said calmly. "When Jake went to visit Bryce and Brad had practise"

**The whole way home, my new big brother Jake lectured me. Apparently, he thought I'd been at the school in the middle of the night as part of some sort of gang initiation. I kid you not. He was really very indignant about the whole thing.**

"I don't like gangs, not after what happened to Darren Gatsby" Jake said.

"Darren, who?" Helen asked.

"Jake's friend from RLS. They only knew each other on the beach during surfing but apparently the young lad got into a gang and later on snitched to the police. The poor boy had not been able to walk ever since"

"It's enough to teach you that gangs aren't cool" Jake said.

**He wanted to know what kind of friends I thought there people were, leaving me to die under a pile of roofing tiles. He suggested that if I were bored or in need of a thrill, I should take up surfing because, and I quote, 'if you're gonna have your head split open, it might as well be while you're riding a wave, dude.'**

Jake shirked slightly under his parents glare. "I'm confiscating your surfboard" Andy said coldly adding it to his list.

**I took his lecture as gracefully as I could. After all, I couldn't very well tell him the real reason I'd been down at the school after hours. I only interrupted Jake once during his little anti-gang speech and that was to ask him just how he and David had known to come after me. **

"Yeah, actually how did you know?" Jake asked.

"Just read the rest of this and you'll find out" David said calmly.

"But you never sai-"

"I told Suze the next day after school"

"**I don't know" Jake said, as we pulled up the driveway. "All I know is, I was catching some pretty heavy-duty Zs, when all of a sudden Dave is all over me, telling me we have to go down to the school and find you. How'd you know she was down there, anyway, Dave?**

**David's face was unnaturally white even in the moonlight. "I don't know" he said, quietly. "I just had a feeling"**

**I turned to look at him, hard. But he wouldn't meet my eye. **

David avoided everyone else's gazes as well.

**That kid, I thought. That kid knows. **

"You knew?!"

"Well sort of" David confessed. "I don't know details, Suze won't tell me, but I do know that a lot of her problems here had been because of the ghosts"

**But I was too tired to talk about it just then. We snuck into the house relieved that the only occupant who woke upon our entrance was Max, who wagged his tail and tried to lick us as we made our way to our rooms. Before I slipped into mine, I looked over at David just once, to see if he wanted – or needed – to say anything to me. But he didn't. **

"Wasn't ready to talk about it just yet"

**He just went into his room and shut his door, a scared little boy. My heart swelled for him. **

**But only for a second. I was too tired to think of anything much but bed – not even Jesse. In the morning, I told myself, as I peeled off my dusty clothes.**

"I wondered why her clothes were so filthy when I washed them the next day"

**I'll talk to him in the morning. **

**I didn't, though. When I woke up the light outside my windows looked funny. When I lifted my head and saw the clock, I realized why. It was two o'clock in the afternoon. All the morning fog had burned away and the sun was beating down as hard as if it were July and not January. **

"**Well, hey, there, sleepyhead"**

**I squinted in the direction of my bedroom door. Andy stood there, leaning against the door frame with his arms folded across his chest. He was grinning, which mean I probably wasn't in trouble. **

"Oh Andy, you kept your promise" Helen said kissing him thoroughly and ignoring the boys groans of disgust.

"Of course, I checked on her every fifteen minutes just in case she woke up" Andy said giving his wife another kiss.

"Yo, 'rents, keep the PDA to a limited level" Jake drawled.

**What was I doing in bed at two o'clock in the afternoon?**

"**Feeling better?" Andy wanted to know. **

**I pushed the bedcovers down a little. Was I supposed to be sick? Well, that wouldn't be hard to fake. I felt as if someone had dropped a ton of bricks on my head. **

"Literally"

**Which in a way, I suppose they had. **

"**Uh" I said. "Not really"**

"**I'll get you some aspirin. I guess it all caught up with you, huh? The jet lag, I mean. When we couldn't wake you up this morning, we decided just to let you sleep. Your mom said to tell you sorry, but she had to go to work. She put me in charge. Hope you don't mind"**

**I tried to sit up. It was really hard. Every muscle in my body felt as if it had been pounded on. I pushed some hair out of my eyes and blinked at him. "You didn't have to" I said. "Stay home on my account, I mean"**

**Andy shrugged. "It's no big deal. I've barely had a chance to talk to you since you got here, so I thought we could catch up. You want some lunch?"**

**The minute he said it, my stomach growled. I was starving. **

Everyone laughed.

**He heard it, and grinned. "No problem. Get dressed and come downstairs. We'll have lunch on the deck. It's really beautiful out today"**

**I dragged myself out of bed with an effort. I had my pj's on. I didn't feel very much like getting dressed. So I just pulled on some socks and a bathrobe, brushed my teeth, and stood for a minute by the bay windows, looking out as I tried to work the snarls out of my hair. The red dome of the Mission church glowed in the sunlight. I could see the ocean winking behind it. You couldn't tell from up here that it had been the scene last night of so much destruction. **

"Trust me, from where we were, you can totally see the destruction"

**It wasn't long before an extremely appetizing aroma rose up from the kitchen, and lured me down the stairs. Andy was making Reuben sandwiches.**

"Hmmm" Brad drooled.

"Silence is golden Bradley"

**He waved me out of the kitchen, though, towards the hug deck he'd built on to the back of the house. The sun was pouring down there, and I stretched out of one of the padded chaise lounges, and pretended like I was a movie star for a while. Then Andy came out with the sandwiches and a pitcher of lemonade, and I dug in. For a non-New Yorker, Andy grilled a mean Reuben. **

Andy swelled up with pride.

**And that wasn't all he grilled. He spent a half hour grilling me pretty thoroughly...but not about what had happened the night before. To my astonishment, Sleepy and Doc had kept their mouths shut. Andy was perfectly in the dark about what had happened. **

"Well I'm not now and I will be grilling all three of you later on" Andy said sternly.

**All he wanted to know was whether I liked my new school, if I was happy, blah, blah, blah...**

**Except for one thing. He did say to me, as he was asking me how I liked California, and was it really so very different from New York – uh, duh – "So I guess you slept through your first earthquake"**

**I nearly choke on a chip. "What?"**

"**Your first quake. There was one last night, around two in the morning. Not a big one, really – round a four pointer – but it woke **_**me**_** up. No damage, except down at the Mission, evidently. Breezeway collapsed. But them that should come as no surprise to them. I've been warning them for years about that timber. It's nearly as old as the Mission itself. Can't be expected to last forever"**

**I chewed more carefully. Wow. Heather's goodbye bang must have really packed a wallop if people all over the Valley and even up in the hills had felt it. **

"When I think about it. Suze never slept through her first earthquake, she probably hasn't actually witnessed one yet. I wouldn't be surprised if the ones in the past year were just ghosts like Heather" Andy said slightly disappointed.

**But that still didn't explain how David had known to look for me down at the school. **

"Yes, it doesn't"

**I'd moved upstairs, and was still sitting on the window seat in my room flipping through a mindless fashion magazine, wondering where Jesse had gone off to, and how long I was going to have to wait before he showed up to give me another one of his lectures, and if there was any chance he might call me **_**querida **_**again, when the boys got home from school. Dopey stomped right past my room – he still blamed me for getting him grounded – but Sleepy poked his head in, looked at me, saw that I was all right, then went away, shaking his head. Only David knocked, and when I called for him to come in, did so, shyly. **

"I wonder why Suze, didn't realize you were actually rather late home" Andy said thoughtfully.

"Her magazine was probably more important" Jake shrugged.

"**Um" he said. "I brought you your homework. Mr Walden gave it to me to give to you. He said he hoped you were feeling better"**

"That was very sweet of you"

"**Oh" I said. "Thanks, David. Just put it down there on the bed"**

**David did so, but he didn't go. He just stood there staring at the bedpost. I figured he needed to talk, so I decided to let him by not saying anything myself. **

"**Cee Cee says hi" he said. "And that other kid. Adam McTavish"**

That's nice of them"

"**That's nice of them" I said. **

Andy chuckled. "Like mother, like daughter, huh?"

**I waited. David did not disappoint. **

"**Everybody's talking about it, you know" he said. **

"**Talking about what?"**

"**You know. The quake. That the Mission must be over some fault no one ever knew about before, since the epicentre seemed to be...seemed to be right next to Mr Walden's classroom"**

**I said. "Huh" and turned a page of my magazine. **

"**So" David said. "You're never going to tell me, are you?"**

**I didn't look at him. "Tell you what?"**

"**What's going on? Why you were down at the school in the middle of the night. How that breezeway came down. Any of it"**

"**It's better that you don't know" I said, flipping the page. "Trust me"**

"See what I mean? She doesn't tell me anything!"

"But at least you _knew"_

"**But it doesn't have to do with...with what Jake said. With a gang. Does it?"**

"**No" I said. **

**I looked at him then. The sun pouring through my windows brought out the pink highlights in his skin. This boy – this red-headed boy with the sticky-outy ears – had saved my life. I owed him an explanation at the very least. **

"**I saw it, you know" David said,**

"**Saw, what?"**

"**It. The ghost"**

"You did?! You saw Jesse? Bloody hell Dave, you might be a mediator too!"

"I didn't quite see him...more like felt...and heard..."

**He was staring at me, white-faced and intent. He looked way too serious for a twelve-year old. **

"Our little David has wisdom beyond his age" Helen praised causing David to blush heavily.

"**What ghost?" I asked. **

"**The one that lives here. In this room" he glanced around, as if expecting to see Jesse looming in one of the corners of my bright sunny room. "It came to me, last night" he said. "I swear it. It woke me up. It told me about you. That's how I knew. That's how I knew you were in trouble"**

**I stared at him with my mouth hanging open. **_**Jesse? Jesse**_** had told me? **_**Jesse**_** had woken him up?**

"**It wouldn't let me alone" David said, his voice trembling. "It kept on...touching me. My shoulder. It was cold and it glowed. It was just a cold, glowing thing, and inside my head there was this voice telling me I had to get down to the school and help you. I'm not lying, Suze. I swear it really happened"**

Jake shuddered. "Poor you, man, I mean to have all that happening to you in the middle of the night. Would have scared the bejeezers out of me. Would have made Brad wet himself"

"OI!"

"Silence Bradley!"

"But Da-"

"I won't warn you again"

"**I know it did, David" I said, closing the magazine. "I believe you"**

**He'd opened his mouth to swear it was true some more, but when I told him I believed him, his jaw clicked shut. He only opened it again to say wonderingly. "You **_**do**_**?"**

"**I do" I said. "I didn't get a chance last night to say it, so I'll say it now. Thank you David. You and Jake saved my life"**

"Why didn't I get any thanks? I helped too!"

"She probably did thank you, you were just sleeping when she did"

"Why you-" Jake attempted to smack his youngest brother who ducked just in time.

"Boys, behave"

**He was shaking. He had to sit down on my bed, or he probably would have fallen down.**

"**So..." he said. "So it's true. It really was...the ghost?"**

"**It really was"**

**He digested that. "And why were you down at the school?"**

"**It's a long story" I said. "But I promise you, it doesn't have anything to do with gangs"**

**He blinked at me. "Does it have to do with...the ghost?"**

"**Not the one who visited you. But yes, it had to do with a ghost"**

**David lips moved, but I don't think he was really aware he was speaking. What came out of his mouth was an astonished, "There's more than one?"**

"Really David, what a stupid question for someone so smart"

"I was in shock!"

"**Oh, there's **_**way**_** more than one" I said. **

**He stared at me some more. "And you...you can see them?"**

"**David" I said. "This isn't really something I'm all that comfortable discussing-"**

"**Have you seen the one from last night? The one who woke me up?"**

"**Yes David. I've seen him"**

"**Do you know who he is? How he died, I mean?"**

**I shook my head. "No. Remember? You were going to look it up for me"**

**David brightened. "Oh yeah! I forgot. I checked some books out yesterday – stay here a minute. Don't go anywhere"**

**He ran from the room, all of his recent shock forgotten. I stayed where I was, exactly as he told me to. I wondered if Jesse was somewhere nearby, listening. I figured it would serve him right if he were. **

**David was back in a flash, brining with him a large pile of dusty, oversize books. They looked really ancient, and when he sat down beside me and eagerly began leafing through them, I saw that they were every bit as old as they looked. None of them had been published after nineteen ten. The oldest had been published in eighteen forty nine. **

"Dude, I don't know how you can stand it"

David merely shrugged. "I enjoy reading"

"**Look" David said flipping through a large, leather-bound volume entitles **_**My Monterey. My Monterey had **_**been written by one Colonel Harold Clemmings. The colonel had a rather dry narrative style, but there were picture to look at, which helped, even if they were in black and white. **

"**Look" David said again, turning to a reproduction of a photograph of the house we were sitting in. Only the house looked a good deal different, having no porch and no carport. Also the trees around it were so much smaller. "Look, see, here's the house when it was a hotel. Or a boarding house as they called it back then. It says here the house had a pretty bad reputation. A lot of people were murdered here. Colonel Clemmings goes into detail about all of them. Do you suppose the ghost who came to me last night is one of them? One of the people who died here, I mean?"**

"Most likely"

"**Well" I said. "Most likely"**

**David began reading out loud – quickly and intelligently and without stumbling over the big, old-fashioned words – the different stories of people who had died in what Colonel Clemmings referred to as the House in the Hills. **

**None of those people, however, was named Jesse. None of them sounded even remotely like him. When David was through, he looked up at me hopefully. **

"**Maybe the ghost belongs to that Chinese launderer" he said. "The one who was shot because he didn't wash that dandy's shirt fine enough"**

"Not Jesse then"

**I shook my head. "No our ghost isn't Chinese"**

"**Oh" David consulted the book again. "How about this guy? The guy who was killed by his slaves?"**

"Doubt it"

"**I don't think so" I said. "He was only five feet tall"**

"**Well, what about this guy? This Dane who they caught cheating at cards, and blew away?"**

"Nada"

"**He's not Danish" I said, with a sigh. **

**David pursed his lips. "Well, what was he, then? This ghost?"**

**I shook my head. "I don't know. At least part Spanish. And..." I didn't want to go into it right there in my room, where Jesse might overhear. You know, about his liquid eyes and long brown fingers and all that. **

"See! She's attracted to him that much! I bet my life savings that he feels the same way about her!"

**I mean, I didn't want him to think that I **_**liked **_**him, or anything.**

Helen sighed. "Suzie's pride" she said disdainfully.

**Then I remembered the handkerchief. It had been gone when I'd woken up the next morning, after I washed my blood out of it, but I still remember the initials MDS. I told them to David. "Do those letters mean anything to you?"**

**He looked thoughtful for a minute. The he closed Colonel Clemmings's book, and picked up another one. This one was even older and dustier. It was so old, the title had rubbed off the spine. But when David opened it, I saw by the title page it was called **_**Life in Northern California, 1800-1850. **_

"How do you know, he'll be in the book?"

"I didn't know for sure, I vaguely remembered someone with the initials in that book"

"I wish I had your memory. Would make college easier"

**David scanned the index in the back, and then went, "Ah-ha"**

"**Ah-ha what?" I asked. **

"**Ah-ha, I thought so" David said. He flipped to a page towards the end. "Here" he said. "I knew it. There's a picture of her" he handed me the book, and I saw a page with a layer of tissue over it. **

"**What's this?" I said. "There's Kleenex in this book"**

Jake snorted.

"**It isn't Kleenex. It's tissue. They used to put that over pictures in books to protect them. Lift it up"**

**I lifted up the tissue. Underneath it was a black and white copy on the glossy paper of a painting. The painting was a portrait of a woman. Underneath the woman's portrait were the words, **_**Maria de Silva Diego, 1830-1916**_**. **

**My jaw dropped. **_**MDS**_**! Maria de Silva!**

**She looked like the type who would have a handkerchief like that tucked up her sleeve. She was dressed in a frilly white thing – at least, it looked white in the black and white picture – with her shiny black hair all ringleted on either side of her head, and a big old expensive-looking jewel hanging from a gold chain round her long neck. A beautiful proud-looking woman, she stared out of the frame of the portrait with an expression you just had to call...well, contemptuous. **

Jake wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Sounds like Heather. I hope we don't actually meet her later on in the books"

**I looked at David. "Who was she?" I asked. **

"**Oh, just the most popular girl in California at around the time this house was built" David took the book away from me, and flipped through it.**

"Definitely another Heather"

"**Her father, Ricardo de Silva, owned most of Salinas back then. She was his only daughter, and he settled a pretty hefty dowry on her. That's not why people wanted to marry her, though. Well, not the only reason. Back then, people actually considered girls who looked like that beautiful"**

**I said, "She's **_**very **_**beautiful"**

**David glanced at me with a funny little smile. "Yeah" he said. "Right"**

"What makes you think she wasn't beautiful?" Helen asked curiously.

"I don't find those girls attractive. I like people who have soulful and honest eyes and loving smiles. Like Sha...err you and our first mom"

"Ooh, sounds like my little boy may have a crush" Helen teased. "On someone called Sha"

David turned beetroot red. "Keep reading Jake"

"**No. She really is"**

**David saw I was serious and shrugged. "Well, whatever. Her dad wanted her to marry this rich rancher- some cousin of hers who was madly in love with her – but she was all into this other guy, this guy named Diego" he consulted the book. "Felix Diego. This guy was bad news. He was a slave-runner. At least, that's what he'd done for a living before he came out to California to strike it rich in the gold mines. And Maria's dad, he didn't approve of slavery, any more than he approved of gold diggers. So Maria and Her dad, they had this big fight about it – who she was going to marry I mean, the cousin or the slave-runner – until finally, her dad said he was going to cut her off if she didn't marry the cousin. That shut Maria up pretty quick because she was a girl who liked money a lot. She had something like sixty dresses back when most women had two, one for work and one for church-"**

Jake took a deep breath. "Honestly Dave, how the hell do you breathe?"

"**So what happened?" I interrupted. I didn't care how many dresses the woman owned. I wanted to know where Jesse came in. **

"**Oh" David consulted the book. "Well, the funny thing is, after all that, Maria won out in the end"**

"How?"

"**How?"**

"**The cousin never showed up for the wedding"**

"What? Jesse sounds too honourable for that"

**I blinked at him. "Never showed up? What do you mean, he never showed up?"**

"**That's just it. He never showed up. Nobody knows what happened to him. He left his ranch a few days before the wedding, you know, so he'd get there on time or whatever, but then nobody heard from him again. Ever. The end"**

"So he was most likely murdered by Maria and Diego" Andy concluded. "Poor bugger"

"**And..." I knew the answer but I had to ask, anyway. "And what happened to Maria?"**

"**Oh, she married the gold-digging slave-runner. I mean after they'd waited a decent interval and all. There were all these rules back then about that kind of thing. Her dad was so disappointed you know, that the cousin had turned out to be so unreliable, that he finally just told Maria she could do whatever she wanted, and be damned. So she did. But she wasn't damned. She and the slave runner had eleven kids and took over her father's properties after he died and did a pretty good job running them-"**

Jake started breathing deeply again. "For God sake, Dave! Learn to breathe!"

**I held my hand. "Wait. What was the cousin's name?"**

**David consulted the book. "Hector"**

"**Hector?"**

"**Yes" David looked back down at the book. "Hector de Silva. His mom called him Jesse, though"**

Jake sniggered. "Suze is in love with a guy called Hector. What a geeky name"

"Jake, be respectful. We can't help what our parents call us. You came close to becoming a Arnold"

Jake quit sniggering and David had a hard time to not laugh. "Now that's just plain cruel Dad" Jake whined.

**When he looked back up, he must have seen something in my face since he went, in a small voice. "Is that our ghost?"**

"**That" I said softly, "is our ghost" **

"And that's the end, Brad your turn" Jake called over to the corner.

Brad whirled round with an evil glint in his eye. "Pass the book then _Arnold_"


	19. Chapter 19

_Author's Note: the last chapter of this fic. Thank you to all those that reviewed, favourited, story-alerted this fic. Dedicated to Vicky as a Christmas present. _

Jake had immediately whacked Brad across the head with the book which caused the temperamental seventeen-year old to throw a punch. Andy quickly intercepted it and sat both boys apart from one another and gave them a long lecture about if they can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all. Brad was then asked to read the last chapter, which he proceeded to do so while sulking.

**The phone ran a little while later. Dopey yelled down the hall that it was for me. I picked up and heard Cee Cee squealing on the other end of the line. **

"**Ms Vice President" she said. "Ms Vice President, do you have a comment?"**

**I said, "No, and why are you calling me Ms Vice President?"**

"Because you won the election, duh!" Brad said rolling his eyes.

"**Because you won the election" in the background, I heard Adam shout, "Congratulations"**

"**What election?" I asked baffled. **

"**For vice president!" Cee Cee sounded annoyed. "Duh!"**

"Wow, Brad you're just like Cee Cee" David said wide eyed.

Brad looked horrified. "I am nothing like that evil freak!"

"Brad! You will also write a formal letter of apology to Suze's friend" Andy barked.

"Oh man!"

"**How could I have won it?" I said. "I wasn't even there"**

"**That's ok. You still won two-thirds of the sophomore class vote"**

"_**Two-thirds?"**_** I'll admit it. That shocked me. "But Cee Cee – I mean, why did people vote for **_**me**_**? They don't even **_**know **_**me. I'm the new kid"**

"Well I certainly didn't fight her" Brad muttered.

**Cee Cee said, "What can I say? You exude the confidence of a born leader"**

"**But-"**

"**And it probably doesn't hurt that you're from New York, and around here, people are fascinated by anything to do with New York"**

"Saddos"

"**But-"**

"**And of course, you talk really fast"**

"She does?"

"**I do?"**

"**Sure you do. And that makes you seem smart. I mean **_**I **_**think you **_**are**_** smart, but you also **_**seem **_**smart because you talk really fast. And you wear a lot of black, and black is, you know, cool"**

"It's not! It's freaky!"

"Brad must you comment on everything Cee Cee says?" Helen asked rolling her eyes.

"If I see fit to"

"**But-"**

"**Oh, and the fact you saved Bryce from that falling chunk of wood. People like that kind of thing"**

**Two-thirds of the sophomore class at Mission High School, I thought, probably have voted for the Easter Bunny if someone could have gotten him to run for office. But I didn't say so. Instead, I said, "Well. Neat. I guess"**

"Neat?" Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Not exactly the word I would use" David said pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"She guesses? Can't she drum up a little more excitement?" Helen exclaimed.

"**Neat?" Cee Cee sounded stunned. "**_**Neat?**_** That's all you have to say, **_**neat?**_** Do you have any idea how much fun we're going to have now that we've managed to get our hands on all that money? The cool things we'll be able to do?"**

"Like cancel the only dance Brad would have been able to go to" Jake snickered.

"_Jake_"

"Sorry Dad, sorry Brad"

**I said, "I guess that's really...great"**

"**Great? Suze, it's **_**awesome**_**! We are going to have an awesome, awesome semester! I'm so proud of you! And to think, I knew you when!"**

**I hung up the phone feeling a little overwhelmed. It isn't every day a girl gets elected vice president of a class she's been in for less than a week. **

"True"

**I hadn't even put the phone back into its cradle before it rang again. This time it was a girl's voice I didn't recognise, asking to speak to Suze Simon. **

"Ooh I'm getting déjà vu"

"**This is she" I said, and Kelly Prescott shrieked in my ear. **

"**Omigod!" she cried. "Have you heard? Aren't you psyched? We are going to have a **_**bitching**_** year"**

Helen pursed her lips together. "Bitching isn't exactly the word I would use"

**Bitching. All right. I said, calmly. "I look forward to working with you"**

"**Look" Kelly said, suddenly all business. "We have to get together soon and choose the music"**

"**The music for what?"**

"**For the dance, of course" I could hear her flipping through an organizer. "I've got a DJ all lined up. He sent me a play list and we have to choose what songs for him to play. How's tomorrow night? What's wrong with you, anyway? You weren't in school today. You're not contagious are you?"**

"Charming"

"And to think, Brad, you fancied her once"

**I said, "Um no. Listen, Kelly, about this dance. I don't know about it. I was thinking it might be more fun to spend the money on...well, something like a beach cookout"**

**She said in a perfectly flat tone of voice. "A beach cookout"**

"**Yeah. With volleyball and a bonfire and stuff" I twisted the phone cord round my finger. "After we have Heather's memorial, of course"**

"**Heather's what?"**

"**Her memorial service. See, I figure you already booked the room at the Carmel Inn, right, for the dance? But instead of having a dance there, I think we should have a memorial service for Heather. I really think you know she'd have wanted it that way"**

"She's not going to like that"

**Kelly's tone was flat. "You never even met Heather"**

"**Well" I said, "that may be. But I have a pretty good feeling I know what type of girl she was. And I think a memorial service at the Carmel Inn would exactly what she'd want"**

**Kelly didn't say anything for a minute. Well it had occurred to me she might not like my suggestions, **

"Really what gave you that idea? The fact that Kelly probably never had a thoughtful and caring thought about anyone but herself?" Jake said snarky. "Kelly is just a little better than Heather but she'll never be a descent person. That's a trophy wife in the making"

"What is it that you have against them?" Brad demanded to know.

"Well Brad, funnily enough I like people with proper personalities like Gina or Catlin. Hot but nice people"

"How very deep" David said with a tinge of sarcasm.

"Thank you"

**But she couldn't really do anything about it now, could she? After all, I was the vice president. And I don't think, short of expulsion from the Mission Academy, I could be impeached. **

"**Kelly?" when she didn't answer, I said, "Well, look, Kell, don't worry about it now. We'll talk. Oh, and about your pool party on Saturday, I hope you don't mind but I asked Cee Cee and Adam to come. You know, it's funny, but they say they didn't get invited. But in a class as small as ours, it's really isn't fair to not invite everybody, you know what I mean? Otherwise, the people who didn't get invited might think you don't like them. But I'm sure in Cee Cee and Adam's case, you just forgot, right?"**

Everyone but Brad burst out laughing.

"Now that's just brilliant" David said.

**Kelly went, "Are you mental?"**

**I chose not to dignify that with a response. "See you tomorrow, Kell" was all I said. **

**A few minutes later, the phone rang again. I picked up since it appeared I was on a winning streak. And I wasn't wrong. It was Father Dominic. **

"Oh dear, someone is in trouble" Brad said gleefully.

"**Susannah" he said, in his pleasantly deep voice. "I do hope you don't mind my bothering you at home. But I just called to congratulate you on winning the sophomore class-"**

"Such a gifted liar" Brad sighed. "Shame he picked priesthood instead of something cool like the FBI"

"**Don't worry Father Dom" I said. "No one's on the other extension. It's only me"**

"**What," he said, in a completely different tone of voice, "could you have been thinking? You promised me! You promised me you wouldn't go back to the school grounds alone!"**

"I'm glad someone gave her a good lecture" Helen said shooting a glare at Jake who smiled innocently.

"**I'm sorry" I said. "But she was threatening to hurt David and I-"**

"**I don't care if she was threatening your mother, young lady. **

"Oh charming" Helen muttered bitterly.

"Don't worry dear, I think the good father just meant it didn't matter who was being threatened Suze's welfare is far more important" Andy said gently.

**Next time, you are to wait for me. Do you understand? Never again are you to attempt something so foolhardy and dangerous as an exorcism without a soul to help you!"**

"You see?"

**I said. "Well, ok. But I was kind of hoping there wasn't going to be a next time"**

"Fat chance of that" Brad snorted. "Since we got another five books to read"

"**Not be a next time? Are you daft? We're mediators, remember. So long as there are spirits, there will be a next time for us, young lady and don't forget it"**

**As if I could. All I had to do was look around my bedroom just about any time of the day, and there was my very own reminder, in the form of a murdered cowboy. **

Jake scowled at that. Andy cracked his knuckles slightly and Helen sighed disapprovingly at both the boys and Suze having a boy living in her room.

**But I didn't see any point in telling Father Dominic this. Instead, I said, "Sorry about your breezeway, Father Dominic. Your poor birds"**

"**Never mind my birds. You're all right, and that's all that matters. When I get out of this hospital, you and I are going to sit down and have a very long chat, Susannah, about proper mediation techniques. I don't know about this habit of yours of just walking up and punching the poor souls in the face"**

Brad laughed. "I bet she's looking forwards to that"

"As much as you look forwards to the dentist Brad" Jake grinned as Brad shuddered.

**I said, laughing. "Ok. I guess your ribs must be hurting you, huh?"**

**He said in a gentler tone. "They are, some. How did you know?"**

"**Because you're so pleasant"**

"**I'm sorry" Father Dominic actually sounded it, too.**

"Why though? Isn't he meant to give her a tongue lashing?"

"**I – yes, my ribs are hurting me. Oh Susannah, did you hear the news?"**

"**Which? That I was voted sophomore class vice president, or that I wrecked the school last night?"**

"Probably both"

"**Neither. A space has been found at Robert Louis Stevenson High School for Bryce. He'll be transferring there just as soon as he can walk again"**

"And promptly forgets his best friend since Pre-K"

"Jake, don't be bitter, you didn't stay in contact with him either"

"Still!"

"**But-" it was ridiculous, I know, but I actually felt dismayed. "But Heather's gone, now. He doesn't have to transfer"**

"**Heather may be gone" Father Dominic said gently, "but her memory still exists very much in the minds of those who were...affected by her death. Surely you can't blame the boy for wanting a chance to start over at a new school where people won't be whispering about him?"**

"Father Dominic is right, that poor boy must be suffering. When Suze asked him for Heather's photo it was obvious he was in emotional pain"

"Yeah and he wanted a girl who didn't know anything about Heather"

**I said, not very graciously, thinking of Bryce's soft blond hair,**

The three brothers pulled faces at that.

"**I guess"**

"**They say I should be well enough to return to work Monday. Shall I see you in my office then?"**

"**I guess" I said, just as enthusiastically as before. Father Dominic didn't appear to notice. He said, "I shall see you then" right before I hung up, I heard him say, "Oh and Susannah, do try, in the interim, not to destroy what's left of the school"**

Everyone sniggered at that.

"**Ha, ha" I said, and hung up. **

**Sitting on the window seat, I rested my chin on my knees and gazed down across the Valley towards the curve of the bay. The sun was starting to sink low in the west. It hadn't hit the water yet, but it would in a few minutes. My room was ablaze with reds and golds, and the sky around the sun looked as if it were striped. The clouds were so many different colours – blue and purple and red and orange – like the ribbons I once saw waving from the top of a May pole at a Renaissance fair. I could smell the sea, too, through my open window. The breeze carried the briny scent towards me, even as high up in the hills as I was. **

Helen sighed dreamily, "Sounds perfect and beautiful"

**Had Jesse, I wondered, sat in this window and smelled the ocean like I was doing, before he died? Before – as I was sure had happened – Maria de Silva's lover, Felix Diego, slipped into the room and killed him?**

"Probably, poor bugger"

**As if he'd read my thoughts, Jesse suddenly materialized a few feet away from me. **

"Now that's just plain creepy"

"**Jeez!" I said, pressing a hand over my heart, which was beating so hard I thought it might explode. "Do you have to keep on **_**doing**_** that?"**

**He was leaning, sort of nonchalantly, against one of my bedposts, his arms folded across his chest. "I'm sorry" he said. But he didn't look it. **

"**Look" I said. "If you and I are going to be living together – so to speak – we need to come up with some rules. And rule number one is that you have got to stop sneaking up on me like that"**

Helen squealed. "She's letting him stay! It's the start of a passionate and beautiful love affair!"

"Whoa, hold your horses Mom! Remember this is a young attractive hot-blooded guy living in a young attractive hot-blooded girl's room. They'll be at it like bunnies!"

Helen rolled her eyes. "Jake, I can assure you that Jesse is far too honourable for that. The young man had not only reassured me and your father but had told Suze point blank (and I know this because Suze has complained about it to me) he's waiting till after marriage like an honourable Catholic should"

"Yeah, well I still don't like the idea of a guy living in my little sis's room"

"**And how do you suggest I make my presence known?" Jesse asked, his eyes pretty bright for a ghost. **

"**I don't know" I said. "Can't you rattle some chains or something?"**

Everyone snickered.

**He shook his head. "I don't think so. What would rule number two be?"**

"**Rule number two..." my voice trailed off as I stared at him. It wasn't fair. It really wasn't. dead guys should not look anywhere near as good as Jesse looked, leaning there against my bedpost with the sun slanting in and catching the perfectly sculpted planes of his face...**

Helen opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it at all three stepsons glaring at her. "I would like to finish this chapter now" Brad said calmly.

**He lifted that eyebrow, the one with the scar in it. "Something wrong, **_**querida**_**?" he asked. **

**I stared at him. It was clear he didn't know that I knew. About MDS I mean. I wanted to ask him about it, but in another way, I sort of didn't want to know. Something was keeping Jesse in this world and out of the one he belonged to, and I had a feeling that something was directly related to the manner in which he lost his life. But since he didn't seem all that anxious to talk about it, I figured it was none of my business. **

**This was a first. Most times, ghosts were all over me to help them. But not Jesse. **

**At least, not for now. **

"**Let me ask you something" Jesse said so suddenly, that I thought for a minute, maybe he'd read my mind.**

"**What?" I asked cautiously throwing down my magazine and standing up. **

"**Last night, when you warned me not to go near the school because you were doing an exorcism..."**

**I eyed him. "Yes?"**

"**Why did you warn me?"**

**I laughed with relief. Was that all? "I warned you because if you'd gone down there you would have been sucked away just like Heather"**

"Translation: she's beginning to care about him and wants him around"

The boys sighed. "Well she lasted this long" Andy said grinning slightly.

"**But wouldn't that have been a perfect way to get rid of me? You'd have this room to yourself, just the way you want it"**

**I stared at him in horror. "But that- that would have been completely unfair!"**

**He was smiling now. "I see. Against the rules?"**

"**Yeah" I said. "Big time"**

"**Then you didn't warn me-" he took a step towards me. "- because you're starting to like me or anything like that?"**

**Much to my dismay, I felt my face start to heat up. "No" I said stubbornly. "Nothing like that. I'm just trying to play by the rules. Which you violated, by the way, when you woke up David"**

"So she denies it and then brings me into it!" David said half horrified and half amused.

**Jesse took another step towards me. "I had to. You'd warned me not to go down to the school myself. What choice did I have? If I hadn't sent your brother in my place to help you" he pointed out, "you'd be a bit dead now"**

Brad snorted. "You think she's going to admit that?"

**I was uncomfortably aware that this was true. However, I wasn't about to let on that I agreed with him. "No way" I said. "I had things perfectly under control. I-"**

"**You had nothing under control" Jesse laughed. "You went barrelling in there without any sort of plan, without any sort of-"**

"**I had a plan" I took a single furious step towards him and suddenly we were standing practically nose to nose. **

Helen let out a squeal.

"**Who do you think you are, telling me I had no plan? I've been doing this for years, get it? Years. And I never needed help, not from anyone. And certainly not from someone like **_**you**_**"**

**He stopped laughing suddenly. Now he looked mad. "Someone like me? You mean – what was it you called me? A cowboy?"**

"**No" I said. "I mean from somebody who's **_**dead**_**"**

"Ooh...."

"Ye-ouch"

"That gotta hurt"

"Poor man"

"Suzie! How could you?!"

**Jesse flinched, almost as violently as if I'd hit him. "Let's make rule number two be that from now on, you stay out of my business, and I'll stay out of yours" I said. **

"**Fine" Jesse said shortly. **

"**Fine" I said. "And thank you"**

**He was still mad. He asked sullenly. "For what?"**

"**For saving my life"**

**He stopped looking mad all of a sudden. His eyebrows, which had been all knit together, relaxed.**

**Next thing I knew, he'd reached out, and laid his hands on my shoulders. **

Helen leaned forward eagerly.

**If he'd stuck a fork in me, I don't think I'd have been so surprised. I mean, I'm used to punching ghosts in the face, I am not used to them looking down at me as if...as if...**

**Well as if they were about to kiss me. **

"Yes! Kiss her! Come on Jesse!"

"No! Don't! You haven't even asked her out yet!"

**But before I had time to figure out what I was going to do – close my eyes and let him do it, or invoke rule number three: absolutely no touching**

"No, no, no, no, no let him kiss you!"

– **My mother's voice drifted up from downstairs. "Susannah?" she called. "Suzie, its Mom. I'm home"**

Helen looked horrified. "How could i?" she wailed. "How could I ruin such a romantic feeling?!"

Andy patted her back, "there, there darling, you didn't know"

**I looked at Jesse. He jerked his hands away from me. A second later, my mom opened my bedroom door, and Jesse disappeared. **

Helen groaned in disappointment and horror.

"**Suzie" she said. She walked over and put her arms round me. "How are you? I hope you're not upset that we let you sleep in. You just seemed so tired"**

"**No" I said. I was still sort of dazed by what had happened with Jesse. "I don't mind"**

"**I guess it all finally caught up with you. I thought it might. Were you all right here with Andy? He said he made you lunch"**

"**He made me a fine lunch" I said automatically. **

Andy smiled.

"**And David brought you your homework, I hear" she let go of me and walked towards the window seat. "We were thinking about spaghetti for dinner. What do you think?"**

"**Sounds good" I came around long enough to notice that she was staring out of the windows. Then I noticed that I couldn't remember my mother ever looking so...well, serene. **

**Maybe it was the fact that since we'd moved out west, she'd given up coffee. **

**More likely, though, it was love. **

Helen smiled serenely up at Andy. "It's definitely love" she said. Andy smiled back and leaned down to kiss her again.

"Oh yuck!"

"Get a room!"

"**What are you looking at, Mom?" I asked her. **

"**Oh, nothing, honey" she said with a little smile. "Just the sunset. It's so beautiful" she turned to put her arm round me, and together we stood there and watched the sun sinking into the Pacific in a blaze of violent reds and purples and golds. "You sure wouldn't see a sunset like that back in New York" my mother said. "Now would you?"**

"**No" I said. "You wouldn't"**

"**So" she said, giving me a squeeze. "What do you think? You think we should stick around here awhile?"**

**She was joking of course. But in a way she wasn't. **

"**Sure" I said. "We should stick around"**

"What would you have done if she said no?" David asked curiously.

"Let her go back to her grandmother's" Helen admitted. "We made an arrangement to give Suze a two week trial and even though she got into a bit of trouble she coped well and enjoyed staying here"

"Well who wouldn't want to live here and not miss out on all the surfing?" Brad asked confused.

Everyone rolled their eyes. "Brad, not everything in life is about surfing" Andy said.

"Says who?"

Andy merely sighed and gestured Brad to continue reading.

**She smiled at me, then turned back towards the sunset. The last of the bright orange ball was disappearing beneath the horizon. "There goes the sun" she said. **

"**And" I said, "It's all right" **

"And that's the end" Brad said snapping the book shut. "Finally! Now we have five more to go"

"I just can't believe it" Helen said shaking her head. "My little girl can see ghosts and she's gotten so hurt fighting these spirits and her stepbrothers didn't force her to go to hospital!"

"We're sorry!" Jake and David wailed.

"I dread to think what is to come in the next five books" Andy said rubbing his temples. "Because it can't just be happy bunnies and rainbows from now on"

"I want to know how Suze brought Jesse back to life" David said.

"I want to know if we can eat" Brad said his stomach rumbling.

Everyone couldn't help but laugh.


	20. Author's Note

**Author's Note: The sequel to Family Reads Shadowland is now up. Please enjoy it just as much as this one, though I am warning you that updates won't be as regular as before. **


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